Garfield Weston set his family company on course to become the anchor-man of British food manufacturing. The company is now called Associated British Food.
Canadian Willard Garfield Weston was born in 1898, his father had emigrated to Canada and created a baking business there. In 1934, Weston moved to England and founded Allied Bakeries which introduced sliced white bread to the English. He also bought the prestigious Fortnum and Mason. The business prospered and he gave generously to the war effort including £100,000 to built 16 Hurricane and Spitfire Aircraft.
He bought Ryvita in 1947 and appointed his second son Gary to run it. Gary left Ryvita for Australia in 1952 and set up Weston Biscuit Company which he grew into a successful business. He invented the Wagon Wheel.
In 1960, Allied Bakeries changed its name to Associated British Foods with the objective of diversifying. In 1963, it acquired the Fine Fair Supermarket chain and in 1967 set up Primark in Dublin. At this point Gary returned to take over from his father. He looked to refocus on food and sold Fine Fare, whilst retaining Primark.
The 1980s saw investment in bakery ingredients. In 1991, the company had built a sufficiently large war chest to buy British Sugar Corporation (BSC) from the family owned Beresfords, which in turn opened the opportunity to move into animal feed using the by-products of sugar. BSC produced sugar from home grown beat; Tate & Lyle used imported sugar cane.
Forever seeking opportunity, ABF moved into ingredients before adding Ovaltine to Twinings. Further acquisitions saw moves into world foods with Patak and Elephant Atta flour, and into health foods with Jordans and Dorset Cereals joining Ryvita.
Gary gave much of his wealth to the Garfield Weston Foundation with funds of £1 billion which supports the built heritage and much more.
In 1994 he reorganised his group creating Wittington Investments. In 1999 he stepped down on the grounds of illhealth. He died in 2002.
He was succeeded by Peter Jackson and then in 2005 by George Weston. ABF now operates in fifty six countries.
Wittington Investments bought the Boots chemists chain in 2026.
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