The History Of John Player & Sons

John Player bought a small tobacco manufacturing business in Broad Marsh, Nottingham in 1877. It employed about 150 people and produced pipe and chewing tobaccos as well as hand-made cigarettes.

In 1881 he bought an extensive site at Radford in Nottingham where he set out to build three factory blocks. They became the centre of the 30 acres of factories and offices that were to develop there.

John Player did not live to see his plans mature. He died aged 45 in 1884, the year the first Radford factory opened.

The business continued to expand and was run by a group of close friends until his sons, John D and William G Player took over as managing directors in 1893. Two years later it became a private limited company and by 1898 all three Radford factory blocks were in operation. In 1901 the Imperial Tobacco Co was formed with other British tobacco companies to resist the pressures of the American Tobacco Co.

The Player brothers retired from active participation in the business in 1926. The number of employees increased from 2,500 in 1914 to 5,000 in 1928 and 7,400 by 1939.