This brief company history, together with the pictures shown below, has been kindly provided by Jon Adcock, Director of Adcocks Drinks Company Ltd, to whom any enquiries about the company, its products or services should be addressed.
Hover mouse over images for description. Click on images for larger version.
In 1911 a young couple moved to Peterborough to brew and sell Ginger Beer and Dandelion & Burdock in stone jars. They became established over the next few years with Sarah Adcock engaged in brewing, and her husband Leonard selling and delivering the products on a one horse dray.
By 1928 the firm bought its first delivery vehicle, a Model T Ford van, and Adcocks (Peterborough) Ltd entered the soft drinks trade. In 1936 Adcocks began to bottle carbonated drinks, as well as having Soda Syphons bottled for them by Hydrox Ltd, another local company. As the business began to expand, Sarah's eldest son Lawrence started working full time, being joined shortly after by their other son Keith. Adcocks continued to expand throughout the next few years, purchasing new filling equipment on the way.
In 1954 Adcocks acquired Hydrox Limited, and it was at this point that Adcocks began to manufacture their own brand of Glass Soda Syphons. The company began by washing the syphons by hand, and refilling them on the refilling machine that they had purchased from Hydrox. A paper label was applied to the neck of the bottle and they were packed in to wooden crates.
By 1969, and after the deaths of both founders, Adcocks had established themselves as the largest soft drinks manufacturers and suppliers in the area. Keith's son Graham Adcock had begun to work full time, and Adcocks had started to win Gold and Silver medals in the National British Bottlers Competitions.
Adcocks began purchasing new Screen Printed Glass Soda Syphons in the early 1970s to keep up with demand from customers. Each syphon had the company name and logo on the front to enhance their appearance. Soda Syphon sales continued to grow and in the 1970s the company continued to buy more syphons and upgraded their filling equipment. By 1982, Adcocks had a full manufacturing plant in place to wash and refill their syphons as well as two other bottling plants for flavoured carbonated drinks.
By 1986 Mr Keith Adcock and Mr Lawrence Adcock had both retired, leaving Graham to run the family business. Graham's eldest son Jon joined the business after leaving school in 1986, followed a year later by his younger son Darren.
Over the next five years, as plastic bottles became more popular, it was decided that the company would scale down its operation of flavoured carbonated drinks and concentrate on Glass Soda Syphons and a smaller range of soft drinks. The company moved to new premises in Crowland, near Peterborough, in 1992 and from here began to expand its Soda Syphon sales nationally.
In 1998, Graham Adcock retired due to ill health and Jon and Darren were left to run the company as co-directors.
Adcocks Drinks are now the largest manufacturer of syphons in the UK, with average annual sales of 900,000 bottles, and are the only company that rebuilds new and damaged glass syphons for customers. Adcocks stock every part of the soda syphon and unless its vase is broken can restore a syphon back to its full working order.
As well as producing our own brand syphon, we now also contract fill and repair syphons for other large soft drinks companies and suppliers in the UK.
Adcocks Drinks Company Ltd
Unit 1, Crease Drow
Crowland
Peterborough PE6 0BN
Tel: 01733 210445 - Fax: 01733 210445
