Pan Britannica Industries Explained
Pan Britannica Industries Ltd (PBI) was a household and agrochemical formulation company incorporated in 1932[1] and based at Britannica House, Stewardstone Road, Waltham Abbey and with a distribution presence in Wisbech in Cambridgeshire. PBI was, in common with many other UK household names, both a manufacturer and marketing organisation for both agricultural and horticultural products.
PBI produced many agro-chemical formulations for farmers, however it was perhaps best known for its product Baby Bio, a liquid plant food that came in a small perfume-shaped bottle. PBI was also the original publisher of the 'Expert' range of gardening books, starting with Be Your Own Gardening Expert written in 1958 by Dr D.G. Hessayon,[2] [3] who later became the company's chairman.[4]
The company was sold to Sumitomo Corporation on 28 September 1990,[1] [5] and rebranded as PBI Home & Garden in 1998.[6] In March 1999 the company was acquired by global conglomerate Bayer. The company has ceased production at Waltham Abbey, the works have been demolished and the site redeveloped for a Tesco supermarket.[7] The rebranded company, PBI Home and Garden, was dissolved in 2015.[8]
Cancer allegations
The company's formulation plant in Waltham Abbey was alleged to be at the centre and therefore the cause of a cancer hotspot.[9] [10] This was highlighted by Storyline, an investigative television programme by Carlton Television, in early 1993. Reports of an unusual occurrence of cancer around the plant and subsequent legal action taken by the residents were the basis for this programme.[11]
References
- News: 'Expert' book group sold to Japanese . 14 November 2023 . Hertfordshire Mercury . 31 August 1990.
- Web site: 2009-02-09 . Dr D G Hessayon: So, how does the expert's garden grow? . 2023-11-14 . The Telegraph . en.
- Book: Hessayon, D. G. . Be Your Own Gardening Expert. [With Illustrations.] ]. 14 November 2023. Pan Britannica Industries . en.
- News: The cricket-loving doctor makes another big score . 14 November 2023 . Manchester Evening News . 24 June 1977 . He joined Pan Britannica Industries, a small garden chemicals firm of which he is now chairman and managing director, and has grown to be the second biggest of its kind in the country.
- Web site: PBI HOME & GARDEN LIMITED filing history - Directors' Report and Accounts for year ended 30 September 1990 . 2023-11-14 . Companies House . en.
- News: Pan Britannica becomes pbi Home & Garden - ProQuest . en . 2022-06-17. .
- Web site: Hastings . Hannah . 2019-09-23 . Epping Forest MP visits retirement home builders following contaminated land concerns . 2023-11-14 . Epping Forest Guardian . en.
- Web site: PBI HOME & GARDEN LIMITED . . 17 November 2023 . Company status Dissolved Dissolved on 10 March 2015.
- Wilkinson . P . Thakrar . B . Shaddick . G . Stevenson . S . Pattenden . S . Landon . M . Grundy . C . Elliott . P . 1997-02-01 . Cancer incidence and mortality around the Pan Britannica Industries pesticide factory, Waltham Abbey. . Occupational and Environmental Medicine . en . 54 . 2 . 101–107 . 10.1136/oem.54.2.101 . 1351-0711 . 1128659 . 9072017.
- Book: Environmental epidemiology . 2010-06-16 . 2011-07-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110722055229/http://www.mcgraw-hill.co.uk/openup/chapters/0335218423.pdf . dead . Investigation of a putative disease cluster . 2006 . Open Univ. Press . 978-0-335-21842-4 . Wilkinson . Paul . Understanding public health . Maidenhead.
- Web site: Inquiry is sought over pesticide cancer fears. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/inquiry-is-sought-over-pesticide-cancer-fears-1470365.html . 2022-05-24 . subscription . live. Independent.co.uk. 22 October 2011.
