John Player & Sons
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John Player founded his tobacco company in the mid-19th century in Nottingham, England. It was expanded later into a thriving cigarette manufactory (based at the Castle Tobacco Factories in Radford, Nottingham - just west of the city centre) and run by his sons, John Dane Player and William Goodacre Player.
In 1901, in response to competitive threats from the USA, the Player's business was merged in to the Imperial Tobacco Group (headquartered in Bristol and including other companies such as WD & HO Wills). However, Players cigarettes retained their own identity (in brands such as 'Navy Cut', 'No.6', 'John Player Special' and 'Gold Leaf') with their distinctive logo of a smoking sailor in a 'Navy Cut' cap.
A new factory (the 'Horizon' factory) was opened in the early 1970s, on Nottingham's industrial outskirts, with better road access and more effective floor space. The old factories in Radford (especially the cavernous 'No.1 Factory') were gradually run down and the final demolition of the 'No.3 Factory', with its distinctive clock and rooftop 'John Player & Sons' sign, came in the late 1980s.
John Player & Sons sponsored the John Player Portrait Award of the National Portrait Gallery, until BP took over in 1989. It is now known as the BP Portrait Prize.
-->John Player's brands are also well known among motor racing fans, following their long assiciation with the Lotus Formula 1 team. Gold Leaf's sponsorship of Team Lotus in 1968 was the first of it's kind and caused a fuss among motor racing purists who were used to seeing cars in their national colours. However, it is the John Player Specials brand that is most famous among fans, the elegant black livery was used from 1972 to 1986. The livery was also used from 1988 to 1991 on the rotary-engined JPS Norton.
Player's is still in existence, with a much reduced workforce, but is no longer one of the Nottingham 'Big Three' employers (the other two being, Boots the Chemists and Raleigh Cycles).
Today, John Player Special and John Player King Size are manufactured by Imperial Tobacco, whereas John Player Gold Leaf is manufactured by British American Tobacco (in some countries).
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