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‘Our factory makes 2,500 custard creams a minute’ | Manchester News

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Richard Stead

News, Manchester

Lee Clarkson at the Hill Biscuits bakery in Ashton-under-Lyne. He is wearing a blue hairnet and white overalls and can be seen stood in front of a conveyor belt rolling out biscuits at the factory.

Four generations of Lee Clarkson’s family have worked at Hill Biscuits in Ashton-under-Lyne

A man has said he is “very proud” that four generations of his family have worked at a biscuit company that is now producing 2,500 custard creams a minute after 170 years in business.

Lee Clarkson, aged 57, has worked at Hill Biscuits in Ashton-under-Lyne since 1987 and his grandfather Alf was employed at the same firm for 50 years.

Lee’s mother Mary, father Peter and son John have also worked at the company, which began as a cake shop on Stockport Road in Dukinfield in 1855.

The Clarkson family have a combined length of service of more than 100 years.

A traditional gas oven at the Hill Biscuits factory in Ashton under Lyne. Brown circular biscuits are emerging from the oven on a conveyor belt.

The factory uses modern and traditional gas ovens to bake thousands of biscuits every minute.

Mr Clarkson from Guide Bridge said his grandfather Alf began working as an engineer at Hill Biscuits when he was 14 years old in 1935.

“There’s still quite a few people here that worked with my grandad”.

“Things have changed a lot over the years – when I started our custard cream plant used to make 6,000 kilos a week and now we have 250 tonnes (250,000 kilos) a week”.

Stephen Hadfield, who is wearing a white hard hat and yellow high-vis jacket, smiles while standing on a platform above the factory floor. Workers in blue boiler suits and hairnets can be seen manning the conveyer belts behind him.

Stephen Hadfield has worked at Hill Biscuits in Ashton-under-Lyne for 34 years

Hill Biscuits has been based at Tudno Mill in Ashton-under-Lyne since 1893.

The ovens run 24 hours a day, with around 350 shift workers producing biscuits like custard creams, coconut crackers, bourbons and gingerbread men.

Stephen Hadfield has worked at the factory for 34 years.

The 59-year-old said: “You can walk around Ashton-under-Lyne and pretty much everybody knows someone who’s worked at Hill Biscuits – they are really good people.”

Two large vats of cream which will go inside millions of custard cream biscuits can be seen at the factory.

The Hill Biscuit factory can make 2,500 custard creams every minute

Hill's Biscuits Two men in period suits stand in front of a Hill's Biscuits delivery van in a black and white picture taken in the 1940s.Hill’s Biscuits

Hill’s Biscuits was formed in 1855 and has continued to operate for 170 years.

The firm makes between five and eight million biscuits every single day and sells products to supermarkets like Aldi and Lidl in the UK as well as exporting to customers worldwide.

Some of those buyers are in Australia, the Bahamas and Malta.

Brendon Ward-Banner the chief executive of Hill Biscuits, said: “We’ve got lots of long-service employees with deep skills and that is a competitive advantage.”

The 52-year-old said: “Since a management buyout in 2017, we’ve increased production by 50%.”

Hill's Biscuits An old photograph from the 1800s of the Hills cake shop. A man in a white frock with a moustache can be seen stood in the doorway of the shop, with wooden baskets placed in front. Hill’s Biscuits

Hill’s Biscuits grew out of a popular cake shop that opened in 1855

Hill's Biscuits A black and white photo of workers packaging the biscuits at the Hill bakery in Ashton-under-Lyne. Dozens of people are working on the production lines. Hill’s Biscuits

The business has had a number of owners, including confectionary giant Rowntree’s

Daniel Johnson runs the factory at the age of 31, and said “anyone can make a bourbon or a custard cream because there’s no trademark”.

But he said the way they are made at Hill Biscuits is a closely guarded secret.

“There’s only about a dozen people that know our recipes – it’s something we do protect and we don’t share our secrets with too many people.”

Workers packaging the biscuits at the Hill bakery in Ashton-under-Lyne. Dozens of people are working on the production lines.

Around 370 people work in the Hill Biscuit bakery in Ashton-under-Lyne

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