THE FIRM
In a nutshell: Swizzels Matlow is a wonderfully named confectionery company that sounds as if it's come straight out of a Roald Dahl book. It is a family-run company and is the largest employer in the New Mills area of Derbyshire, with over 600 staff.
History: Swizzels Matlow began in 1928 when brothers Alfred and Maurice Matlow founded Matlow Bros in a small factory in London to manufacture jelly sweets. Five years later the brothers joined forces with an entrepreneur called David Dee to form a new company, Swizzels, also based in London which specialised in fizzy sweets and mints. However, because of the Blitz, in 1940 the firm transferred production to a 150 year-old disused mill at New Mills, from which it still operates today. The company has since extended the factory and also opened a purpose-built warehouse in Adlington, five miles away. It adopted the name Swizzels Matlow in 1975.
Brands you'd recognise: Forget brands, a trip down memory lane is what this company sells. It is responsible for those childhood treats such as Love Hearts, Parma Violets, Drumsticks, Rainbow Drops, Space Pebbles, Refresher Bars and even that sweet necklace you used to put round your neck and suck as a child (you know you did). But it doesn't just make traditional products, it is in touch with the zeitgeist, with confectionery such as its TXT Message sweets.
The strategy: Swizzels Matlow will continue to respond to ever-changing needs and provide the products necessary to maintain its heritage, the company claims.
Where you'd work: Not much choice here, I'm afraid ... as it's Derbyshire or now't.
Do say at interview: As a child I loved your sweets ...
Don't say at interview: But aren't sweets bad for my children? (rising obesity problems among children means that too many sugary products are frowned upon by nutritionists.)
Contact: 01633 744144, http://www.swizzels-matlow.com
