Holding company
Wittington has a spread of investments but its principal asset is its majority holding in Associated British Foods. 79.2% owned by charitable trust, the Garfield Weston Foundation.
Company Ownership
Wittington Investments Ltd
UK
Garfield Weston Foundation
owns 79% of Wittington Investments Ltd
UK
Grant-giving charity
Founded 1958. The Weston family controls a string of businesses through this charitable trust, including Associated British Foods, Primark and Fortnum & Mason. Owns nearly 80% of Wittington Investments, its main source of income.
Company Assessment
(Last updated Jan 2024)
Praise
Criticism
Information
Wittington Investments Ltd
Praise
Criticism
Information
Tax avoidance
UK-based protest group, UK Uncut, targeted Wittington Investments during protests in March 2011 for their tax avoidance policies.
Source: UK Uncut
(2011)
Modern Slavery statement
California, the UK and Australia have all enacted legislation requiring companies operating within their borders to disclose their efforts to eradicate modern slavery from their operations and supply chains. Follow the link to see this company's disclosure statement.
Source: company website
(2023)
Foie gras sales
In 2021 Wittington Investments subsidiary Fortnum & Mason announced it will stop selling foie gras after a 10 year long campaign by PETA. Foie gras is made of the liver of a duck or goose that has been force fed grain through a tube for the last 12-18 days of its life under factory farm conditions. More than a dozen countries have prohibited foie gras production due to animal welfare concerns.
Source: PETA
(2021)
BOTTOM Rating in Good Shopping Guide
Brands in 'bread' category received BOTTOM Rating; with a score of 46 out of a possible score of 100 in the Ethical Company Organisation's 'Good Shopping Guide' (UK), which evaluates brands with regard to their environmental, animal welfare and human rights records.
Garfield Weston Foundation
Praise
Criticism
Information
Governance
In 2010, the UK Charity Commission found that some of the family members who run the Garfield Weston Foundation allowed an investment company it controlled (Wittington Investments) to make illegal political donations between 1993 and 2007. The Charity Commission also found that the charity's nine trustees breached their duties in January 2006 by voting for a resolution allowing Wittington to make donations without giving proper consideration.
Source: news article
(2010)
Charitable giving
The Garfield Weston Foundation gives grants to UK registered charities, with the exception of animal welfare charities. Organisations with an 'exempt' or 'excepted' status such as churches, hospitals, educational establishments and housing corporations may also apply for grants.
Source: company website
(2012)
Company Details
Type:
Private company
Founded:
1941
Subsidiaries:
Associated British Foods PLC
(55% owned)
Food manufacturer
Diversified international food, ingredients and retail group operating in 47 countries. 54.5% owned by Wittington Investments, a company controlled by the founding Weston family.
Silver Spoon Company
Retail sugar
Established in 1972 as the retail brand of ABF owned British Sugar.
AB Food & Beverages Australia Pty Ltd
Powdered food products manufacturing
Australia's #2 hot beverages company. Like George Weston Foods, this company is owned by European food and beverages giant, AB Foods.
Acetum SpA
Vinegar producer
Italian balsamic vinegar producer acquired by Associated British Foods in 2017.
George Weston Foods Ltd
Food manufacturing
One of Australia and New Zealand's largest food manufacturers, employing over 6,000 employees across 40 sites. George Weston Foods bought Tip Top Bakeries (1949), George Chapmans (1987), Don Smallgoods (1999), Melosi (1995), Jasol (1986), AGB (2007) KR Castlemaine (2008) and Yumi's (2018).
Yumi's Quality Foods Pty Ltd
Dip manufacturer
Founded in Melbourne in 1990. Australian private equity firm Anacacia Capital bought an undisclosed stake in Jan 2014. George Weston Foods became full owners in 2018.
R. Twining & Co Ltd
Tea company
Established in 1706. Twinings is a founder member of the Ethical Tea Partnership formed in 1997.
Jordans & Ryvita Company
Grain-based foods
ABF merged its Ryvita subsidiary with Jordans cereal business in 2008, and in 2014 they acquired Dorset cereals.
The Jordans and Ryvita Company Australia Pty Ltd
Breakfast cereals
Commenced in Australia in 2014 stocking at Coles and Woolworths supermarkets.
Contact Details
Products / Brands
Silver Spoon (55% owned)
Billington's (sucrose)
Sugar & Sweeteners
Mazzetti
Vinegar
9 Grain
Bread
Abbott's Village Bakery
Bread
Bagle House
Bread
Bazaar
Flat Bread
Burgen
Bread
Don
Smallgoods/Pork
English Muffins
Bread
Golden
Bread
Huttons
Smallgoods/Pork
Jasol
Multi-Purpose Cleaners
Kitchen Collection
Flour & Bread Mix
KR Castlemaine
Smallgoods/Pork
Pataks
Indian
Pataks
Cooking Sauce
Sunblest
Bread
The One
Bread
Tip Top
Bread
Tip Top
Flour & Bread Mix
Tip Top
Flat Bread
Titan
Multi-Purpose Cleaners
Yumi's
Dips
Yumi's
Frozen Fish
Yumi's
Vegetarian & Vegan