Description

Admin History:

A company with a world wide reputation, Sissons Piants was founded in 1803. In the Hull Directory of 1805, the business of Sissons, Weddel & Co. is listed as Oil and Colourmen, Manufacturers of Paint, Mustard, French and Pearl Barley, 10 Pryme Street, Counting House, Groves. In Battles Directory of 1806/7 they are shown as Whitening Makers of Lime Street, Groves. Lime Street is north of North Bridge on the east bank of the River Hull. Later the company is again described in a directory as oil and colourmen, manufacturers of paint, mustard, French and pearl barley, now with premises also at 1 Mason Street in Hull. In 1827 the name of the business was changed to Sissons Brothers & Company and premises were moved to Bankside in Sculcoates. The following statistics give an idea of the growth of the company; in 1851 there were just 30 employees and by 1911 there were 350. During this time, the company also grew from occupying a 1 acre site to one of 16 acres. Sissons Brothers became a limited company in 1887 with a capital of £100,000 sterling. A great event, both in the history of Sissons Brothers and in the history of decorating, was the introduction, in 1894, of a world-famous oil-bound, sanitary washable water paint; 'Sanitary Washable Hall's Distemper'. Produced in 70 colours, Hall's Distemper was shipped worldwide in large quantities and had a profound effect on the company's fortunes.

Towards the end of the 19th century the business of the Company was expanding southwards and it was decided to open a depot for distributing the Company's products in London. Soon a chain of fourteen distributive depots ensured distribution of the company's products to all parts of the UK and the company bought a number of subsidiaries. Their products were eventually exported to around 50 countries worldwide.

One of the original pioneers of paint advertising, Sissons has been recognised for many years by the well-known trade mark of the 'Men and Plank'-a particularly familiar sign to railway travellers which was designed by a firm called T. B. Browne of London around 1910.

A testament to the owners of the Company was the fact that their employees never went on strike. A Works Social Committee was set up around 1918 to coordinate the activities of various clubs that had established themselves at the Company, including a cricket club, a silver band, an angling club, an excursion club, a shooting club, a football club, a ladies swimming team and a tug-of-war team. Workers were given annual outings. The company purchased a holiday home in Withensea in 1906 and their Provident and Sick Club was one of the first to be established in Hull. The Managing Director's door was always open to employees. The family spirit engendered over the years resulted in many long service records, including several spanning two or three generations.

During the First World War the Company became controlled by the Government and devoted much of its energies to the production of important war materials. Equally, during the Second World War, production was soon turned over to the needs of the war effort, for example war-time camouflage paint, blackout paint and paint for munitions production. Sissons Brothers premises suffered enormous damage during the Second World War when the factory was hit no less than six times during the raids on Hull. However, production never stopped and, fortunately, no loss of life was involved.

In 1956, following confidential negotiations, the directors of the company received an offer of £1.5 million from the Reckitt & Colman Group of Hull for the whole business. The directors decided it was in the best interests of the shareholders to accept the offer. Shares in the company at this time were all held by a small number of elderly family members and a few outsiders. Death duties for the

elderly would be based on the last time that shares had changed hands. As the business was prospering, these were likely to be substantial. However the business was a private company, not quoted on the stock exchange, so the market for shares would be limited and a situation could arise where other members of the family were unable to raise sufficient cash to buy the shares on the demise of a family member. The solution was either to float the company on the London stock exchange or to take this opportunity to sell the company to Reckitts. In 1968 the Macpherson Group acquired the whole of the paint interests of Reckitt & Colman Ltd., The last accounts of Sissons Brothers & Co., Ltd. in the UK were lodged on 31 October 1989. The Malaysia and West Indies companies continued business as Sissons Paints under their new owners.

Description:

Includes items relating to the creation of the company, photographs, product details, published material, private papers of the Sisson's family, material relating to staff and material relating to subsidiary companies