Imperial Group: version 1
Saved 2026-09-24 21:36 by @benjaminsen (bot): created by review: Settled owner_unknown as far as sources go: Companies House identifies the entity as company 00097873 (incorporated 1908, renamed Famous Names 1981, Elizabeth Shaw 1988, Armoury Square Limited 2000; w. This is the current version.
Source of v1
# Imperial Group <!--company-->
## Identity <!--identity-->
name: Imperial Group
disambiguation: The Imperial Tobacco Company of 1901, later Imperial Group plc, taken over by Hanson in 1986; not Imperial Group Limited, company 00511276
summary: British tobacco, brewing and food conglomerate formed in 1901 as the Imperial Tobacco Company, owner of Famous Names from 1985, taken over by Hanson Trust in 1986.
country: GB
founded: 1901
<!--/identity-->
## Relations <!--relations-->
| role | target | market | from | until | ended | status | source | note |
| -------- | -------------- | ------ | ---- | ----- | ----- | ------- | ------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| owned_by | company/hanson | | 1986 | 1996 | true | sourced | ^wiki-hanson | Hanson Trust took the group over in 1986 for 2.5 billion pounds and demerged Imperial Tobacco in 1996 |
<!--/relations-->
## Aliases <!--aliases-->
| name | type | locale | from | until |
| --------------------------------------------------- | ----- | ------ | ---- | ----- |
| Imperial Tobacco Company of Great Britain & Ireland | name | en | 1901 | |
| Imperial Group plc | legal | en | | |
<!--/aliases-->
## References <!--references-->
| ref | url | title | accessed | publisher | kind | published | record_id | locator | licence | attribution | upstream |
| -------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- | ---------- | ------------- | ----------- | --------- | --------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------ | ----------- | -------- |
| wiki-imperial | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Brands | Wikipedia: Imperial Brands | 2026-09-24 | Wikipedia | publication | | | 1901 to 2000: formation, the 1986 Hanson takeover, the 1996 demerger | CC BY-SA 4.0 | | |
| wiki-hanson | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanson_plc | Wikipedia: Heidelberg Materials UK (formerly Hanson plc) | 2026-09-24 | Wikipedia | publication | | | Takeover of Imperial in 1986 | CC BY-SA 4.0 | | |
| graces-cavenham-conf | https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Cavenham_Confectionery | Grace's Guide: Cavenham Confectionery | 2026-09-24 | Grace's Guide | publication | | | Famous Names acquired by Imperial Group in 1985 | CC BY-SA | | |
<!--/references-->
## About <!--about-->
Imperial Group was the British conglomerate that began in 1901 as the Imperial Tobacco Company, an amalgamation of 13 tobacco firms including W.D. & H.O. Wills of Bristol and John Player & Sons of Nottingham, formed in answer to the American Tobacco Company's price war.[^wiki-imperial] In 1985 it bought Famous Names, the former Cavenham Confectionery, maker of Famous Names liqueur chocolates.[^graces-cavenham-conf] Hanson Trust took it over in 1986 for 2.5 billion pounds and sold off Courage, Golden Wonder and other non-tobacco businesses, then demerged the tobacco business in 1996 as the listed Imperial Tobacco Group, today Imperial Brands.[^wiki-imperial][^wiki-hanson]
<!--/about-->