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Brown & Polson, Paisley
Brown & Polson was founded by John Polson (1800 – 1843), William Polson (1810 – 1893) and John Brown (1806 -1889) when they merged their starch manufacturing businesses and opened a factory at Thrushcraigs. Production was relocated to the Royal Starch Works at Carriagehill in 1857.
In 1854, John Polson Jr (1825 – 1900) devised and patented a method for making pure starch from maize, which he named corn flour. This was the first corn flour to be made in Britain.
John Polson Jr was a generous benefactor. The firm introduced a profit sharing scheme for its workforce from 1873 and provided housing for workers in the vicinity of the factory.
A by-product of the corn flour manufacturing process was made into animal feed, this became a major part of the business. A huge explosion at the animal feed factory in 1962 killed five men. The death toll would have been much higher had the explosion not occurred during a night shift. At this time, 900 people were employed there.
The company continued to diversify; Knorr stock cubes and soups were manufactured at Paisley from the mid 1960s. In 1992, the factory employed 450 people, mostly in the manufacture of Knorr stock cubes and Hellmann’s mayonnaise.
The factory eventually closed in 2002 following the steady transfer of production to more modern plants in France, Italy and the Netherlands. By this time only 66 people were employed there.
Brown & Polson corn flour is still available in Britain.
One of the few surviving factory buildings is the former office at the corner of Braids Road and Falside Road. This Category B Listed building Link
was converted to residential use, as was the rest of the factory site, after the factory closed.
On Falside Road can still be found two rows of workers houses related to the factory. The twelve detached cottages were each split into four flats, each of which had its own scullery and WC, but a single common washing house and bath was shared by the 4 householders.
The houses are in English Arts & Crafts style and are Category B Listed Link .
Also to be seen on Falside Road is the former Brown & Polson's Workers Institute building, which is also in the English Arts & Crafts style and is also Category B Listed Link .
In 1854, John Polson Jr (1825 – 1900) devised and patented a method for making pure starch from maize, which he named corn flour. This was the first corn flour to be made in Britain.
John Polson Jr was a generous benefactor. The firm introduced a profit sharing scheme for its workforce from 1873 and provided housing for workers in the vicinity of the factory.
A by-product of the corn flour manufacturing process was made into animal feed, this became a major part of the business. A huge explosion at the animal feed factory in 1962 killed five men. The death toll would have been much higher had the explosion not occurred during a night shift. At this time, 900 people were employed there.
The company continued to diversify; Knorr stock cubes and soups were manufactured at Paisley from the mid 1960s. In 1992, the factory employed 450 people, mostly in the manufacture of Knorr stock cubes and Hellmann’s mayonnaise.
The factory eventually closed in 2002 following the steady transfer of production to more modern plants in France, Italy and the Netherlands. By this time only 66 people were employed there.
Brown & Polson corn flour is still available in Britain.
One of the few surviving factory buildings is the former office at the corner of Braids Road and Falside Road. This Category B Listed building Link
was converted to residential use, as was the rest of the factory site, after the factory closed.On Falside Road can still be found two rows of workers houses related to the factory. The twelve detached cottages were each split into four flats, each of which had its own scullery and WC, but a single common washing house and bath was shared by the 4 householders.
The houses are in English Arts & Crafts style and are Category B Listed Link
.Also to be seen on Falside Road is the former Brown & Polson's Workers Institute building, which is also in the English Arts & Crafts style and is also Category B Listed Link
.Created: Tue, 1 Nov 2016, Updated: Sat, 5 Nov 2016
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