PZ Cussons

Quality 0.50 · 2 views · Updated 2 months ago

Manufacturer of personal healthcare products and consumer goods

title: "PZ Cussons" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["british-companies-established-in-1884", "companies-listed-on-the-london-stock-exchange", "manufacturing-companies-based-in-manchester", "personal-care-companies-of-the-united-kingdom", "multinational-companies-headquartered-in-england"] description: "Manufacturer of personal healthcare products and consumer goods" topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PZ_Cussons" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Manufacturer of personal healthcare products and consumer goods ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]

FieldValue
namePZ Cussons plc
logoPZ Cussons logo.svg
logo_size160px
typePublic Company
traded_as
foundersGeorge Paterson
George Zochonis
foundation
locationManchester, England
key_peopleCaroline Silver (Chair)
Jonathan Myers (CEO)
industry
products
revenue£656.3 million (2023)
operating_income£73.3 million (2023)
net_income£46.4 million (2023)
num_employees2,672 (2023)
homepage
::

| name = PZ Cussons plc | logo = PZ Cussons logo.svg | logo_size = 160px | type = Public Company | traded_as = | founders = George Paterson George Zochonis | foundation = | location = Manchester, England | key_people = Caroline Silver (Chair) Jonathan Myers (CEO) | industry = | products = | revenue = £656.3 million (2023) | operating_income= £73.3 million (2023) | net_income = £46.4 million (2023) | num_employees = 2,672 (2023) | homepage =

PZ Cussons plc is a major British manufacturer of personal healthcare products and consumer goods. It operates worldwide, especially in nations in Africa, and the Commonwealth. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange.

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Imperial_Leather_soap_bar.jpg" caption="An Imperial Leather soap bar (2016)"] ::

Paterson Zochonis (PZ) (1884–1929)

Main article: George Zochonis

The company was formed by George Zochonis and George Paterson as a commodity trading business in the Sierra Leone Colony and Protectorate under the name Paterson Zochonis (PZ) in 1884. It expanded its operations into what is now Nigeria before the end of the nineteenth century.

PZ (1929–1951)

Main article: Constantine Zochonis

Paterson Zochonis expanded considerably under Constantine Zochonis between 1929 and 1951, when as chairman he acquired factories and established offices in Ghana and Kenya. Under the management of C.P. Zochonis, PZ invested in its host countries by opening factories and shops there. In 1948, PZ took over a Nigerian soap manufacturer. "This proved to be a landmark in the company's history, as soap was to become a major part of its trade". However, under the management of C.P. Zochonis, the company allowed colonial attitudes to affect local African peoples.

PZ and PZ Cussons (1951–2006)

Main article: John Zochonis

From 1951, Alexander Loupos, cousin of Constantine Zochonis, took over PZ as chairman. John Zochonis became chairman in the 1970s. Paterson Zochonis continued to expand under John Zochonis, It was one of three or four firms which commercially dominated Guinea as a colony before 1958.Thomas O'Toole, Historical Dictionary of Guinea, Scarecrow Press, 1978, p. 55

The company acquired Cussons Group (founded by Thomas Cussons) from the Cussons family in 1975.

The company bought the state owned Pollena Wroclaw in Poland in 1993, followed in 1995 by Pollena Uroda, and in 2002, Paterson Zochonis plc was renamed PZ Cussons plc. PZ Cussons closed its factory in Nottingham in February 2005 (founded by Gerard Bros.) and relocated the operations to Thailand.

PZ (from 2006)

PZ Cussons announced new plans in August 2006 to move its remaining factory in England from Kersal to Swinton, both in the City of Salford.

PZ Cussons acquired the Sanctuary Spa and Sanctuary products business in January 2008 for £75 million. Alex Kanellis, who had been chief executive officer since June 2006, stepped down from that position in December 2019. The company announced that Jonathan Myers would be the new chief executive officer effective from 1 May 2020.

Operations

PZ Cussons Group has a marketing presence in Europe, Africa and Asia.

PZ Cussons until recently had factories in Salford, Nigeria, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, Greece, Kenya, and Poland. The factories in Greece and Poland, together with local commercial operations were sold in the summer of 2012 as part of an initiative to focus on core business.

PZ Cussons' main brand is the Imperial Leather range of soaps, bath and shower and cosmetic products. PZ Cussons operates a joint venture electrical superstore, Haier Thermocool, in Lagos, Nigeria and also operates in Ghana. The largest single market for PZ Cussons is Nigeria. This is served by the subsidiary company PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc, which employs over 3,500 people and is listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

References

References

  1. "Annual Report 2023". PZ Cussons.
  2. (15 February 2022). "PZ Cussons: Our History".
  3. (2000). "Strategic Management: a Canadian casebook". Prentice Hall.
  4. (23 November 1953). "Paterson, Zochonis & Company Limited". The Times (London, England).
  5. (December 1984). "The colonial state of northern Ghana, the political economy of pacification". Review of African Political Economy.
  6. (December 1997). "'Jaguda boys': pickpocketing in Ibadan, 1930-60". Urban History.
  7. (1992). "The production and export of hides and skins in colonial and northern Nigeria 1900-1945". The Journal of African History.
  8. (15 February 2007). "Sir John Zochonis". Manchester Evening News.
  9. (1 January 2017). "Zochonis, Sir John Basil".
  10. (7 May 2021). "Paterson Zochonis". Grace's Guide to British Industrial History.
  11. "Annual Report 2009". PZ Cussons.
  12. "UK Business Park – B2B Sales Leads & Company News". ukbusinesspark.co.uk.
  13. (9 February 2005). "Cussons closes Nottingham plant". The Guardian.
  14. (2 August 2006). "Soap maker reveals £15m factory plans". Manchester Evening News.
  15. (30 January 2008). "Cussons buys Sanctuary Spa brand for £75m". brandrepublic.com.
  16. Foy, Simon. (12 December 2019). "PZ Cussons boss quits after 13 years as profits slide". The Telegraph.
  17. (15 September 2008). "PZ Cussons: Our Markets". pzcussons.com.
  18. (24 July 2012). "Profits fail to scrub up at PZ Cussons". The Manufacturer.
  19. Jones S. 17 November 2001, "Bubbly PZ washes hands of some of its imperial past" ''Financial Times''. London. p. 2.
  20. (29 July 2008). "UPDATE 2-PZ Cussons boosted by strong trading in Nigeria".
  21. "Nigeria".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

british-companies-established-in-1884companies-listed-on-the-london-stock-exchangemanufacturing-companies-based-in-manchesterpersonal-care-companies-of-the-united-kingdommultinational-companies-headquartered-in-england