News Footage of Horizon
Footage shot by Associated Television for a news piece about the opening of the Horizon factory at the start of 1972.<br /><br />The opening shot shows the new factory in the snow, whilst subsequent shots show workers and machinery in the primary and secondary departments.<br /><br /><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/173923825" frameborder="0" width="640" height="480"></iframe>
<p><a href="https://vimeo.com/173923825">[ATV Today. 31.01.1972. New John Player Cigarette Factory at Nottingham]</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/macearchive">MACE Archive</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>
ATV
31 January 1972
Project Horizon Film
In 1969, John Player & Sons looked to have a film made about their new Horizon factory, which was then being built. As the company put it, the film would function 'to encourage employees to look objectively and favourably on the Horizon operation in total and to encourage a closer involvement of the immediate community in the whole project'. Player's commissioned Derek Stewart Productions to produce the film at a cost of just under £20,000.<br /><br />The main narrators in the film are Tony Garrett, who was then chairman and managing director of Player's, and Tony Davis, who was chairman of the special managerial committee Player's set up to oversee the planning of Horizon. They talk viewers through the development and building of the factory. <br /><br />Less senior employees are also featured and the film doesn't shy away from dealing with what was then a controversial issue amongst some of Player's employees: the switch to a double day shift pattern of work. Reservations about shift work are featured in the film, but Player's wanted to give the overall impression that 'many people find Double Day Shifts attractive'.<br /><br />Employees were shown the Project Horizon film at Nottingham's Savoy cinema as part of Player's large public relations effort in support of its new factory.<br /><br /><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/174192173" frameborder="0" width="640" height="468"></iframe>
<p>Project Horizon 16468 from <a href="https://vimeo.com/macearchive">MACE Archive</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>
Derek Stewart Productions
1971
No 1 Factory Air Raid Shelter
Brian Dominic
Late 1960s
Photograph of 'The John Player Showroom'
The showroom housed products that could be collected through coupons available in packets of Player's cigarettes. The Nottingham showroom was on Hartley Road in Radford.
The photograph shows the showroom at Christmas time.
P1362
1972
Photograph of John Player's No. 2 Factory
Exterior view of No. 2 Factory on Radford Boulevard. Work was completed in 1932 and the building measured 250,000 square foot.The factory continued to produce cigarettes until the 1970s, when Player's moved production to its new Horizon factory.
P819
1932
Photograph of Women's Hockey
A group of women playing field hockey at the company's recreation ground situated at Aspley Lane.
Player's provided sports facilities for its workers at a site at Aspley Lane. Built in 1906, the Recreation Ground, or the Rec as it was known, was a central part of life at Player's right up to the 1980s. The ground's club house was the site of a great number of social events.
P2525
1960-1978
Pat Swallow talks about some of the Benefits of Working for John Player & Sons
Pat Swallow talks about some of the benefits of working for John Player & Sons during the 1970s and beyond. She talks both about working conditions and the social side of the job offered by the company, including the Miss Player competition.<br /><br /><iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/263439145%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-sqxbQ&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" scrolling="no" width="100%" height="300"></iframe>
24 January 2013
Pat Swallow on the Different Jobs Men and Women did at John Player & Sons
Pat Swallow talks about the different jobs men and women did at John Player & Sons, both in the factories and the offices during the 1970s and beyond.<br /><br /><iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/263439387%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-N15ly&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" scrolling="no" width="100%" height="300"></iframe>
24 January 2013
Photograph from the 1955 Bonus Dance
Every year up until the mid-1970s, John Player & Sons gave its employees a money bonus in March. To mark this, a dance was thrown at the Astoria dancehall in Nottingham (this later became the Sherwood Rooms and is now Ocean nightclub).
This photograph is from the 1955 bonus dance and features, amongst others, Leslie and Sybil Briggs (née Simmonds). Leslie worked in No. 3 factory and Sybil worked in the offices. Sybil remembers that the female employees would talk about what they were going to wear to the dance for months in advance, and she would often buy a new dress for the occasion which she would have to pay off in monthly instalments.
Yvonne Dawson
1955
An Ash Tray made for John Player & Sons Centenary
To mark 100 years of the company existing and manufacturing tobacco, John Player & Sons had an ash tray made specially by Royal Worchester. It was given to employees and retired employees along with a special company history produced for the occasion and a commemorative packet of Medium Navy Cut cigarettes.
Tony Lowe
1977