1868
John Mackintosh was born on 7th July in the town of Dukinfield, Cheshire, moving to Halifax soon afterwards
1892
They moved from retail to wholesale selling in and production
1895
The business moved to Hope Street under the name, the Steam Confectionary Works
1898
The firm was also manufacturing Christmas crackers
1900
Greystones, John and Violet Mackintosh's home, was built c.1900 in the Arts and Crafts Style in a prominent position on the corner of Manor Heath Road and Queen's Gate, Savile Park, Halifax
1905
Mackintosh's Toffee Company (America) Limited was recorded with registered office at Hill Street, West Parade, Halifax
1907
On Feb. 21st the S.S. Berlin was totally wrecked off the Hook of Holland John Mackintosh had crossed only the previous night. His foreman, who followed the next night, lost his life.
1914
In the autumn a full-page advertisement was issued showing the Kaiser standing astride the maps of Belgium and France and staring with angry eyes across the Channel to the British Isles, on which rested a tin of "Mackintosh's Toffee." The title gives the explanation, "So that is what makes them fight so well"
In September John Mackintosh sent a letter to the Editor of the Halifax Daily Guardian urging the necessity of opening a local relief fund for the assistance of victims of the war.
1919
In June John Mackintosh gave a great "Victory Ball" to celebrate the return of most of his men from the Great War
1921
Heath Robinson, Illustrator, was commissioned by Mackintosh's for part of an advertising campaign. His "A Half Hour in Toffee Town" appeared in The Daily Mail (London, England) 1st October
1925
The John Mackintosh Memorial Homes were opened at Albert Promenade by J.H. Whitley on 1st January. The 12 cottages were designed by W B Walton of Blackpool for Violet Mackintosh who built and endowed them in memory of her husband.
1929
The company formed Anglo-American Chewing Gum Ltd
1931
In September Harold Mackintosh narrowly avoided merging the company with Rowntrees of York. Both companies already had a joint subsidiary in the Republic of Ireland
1935
Harold Mackintosh was made a baronet
1937
Rolo was launched in Halifax
1942
During World War II, Mackintosh's Norwich factory was destroyed by bombs, halting all production there
1948
Harold Mackintosh was given an honorary Doctor of Law by the University Of Leeds.
1951
In April, the company bought J & J Baldwin's Bailey Hall mill which had originally been built by the Halifax Flour Society.
1957
Harold Mackintosh became Viscount Mackintosh of Halifax
Munchies were first introduced
1963
Toffee Crisp and Tooty Frooties were launched in Halifax
1965
Mackintosh acquired the firm of John Hill and Sons, biscuit makers
1969
Mackintosh acquired the firm of Fox Glacier Mints Ltd.
The original shop in King Cross Street was demolished to make way for the new bypass
Mackintosh merged with Rowntree to become Rowntree Mackintosh Limited.
1972
An agreement was negotiated with Fujiyi Confectionery Company Ltd. of Tokyo to manufacture selected products for the Japanese market
1979
Rowntree Mackintosh acquired the Dutch Nuts Chocoladefabriek B.V.
1986
It had added another 13 companies in the United Kingdom, France, Australia, the United States, and Canada. All of these acquisitions made a reorganization necessary
The Queens Road site closed
1988
Two Swiss companies, Nestlé and Jacobs Suchard, began a bidding war for Rowntree. Both companies had chocolate businesses they hoped to strengthen in preparation for the unification of the European Common Market in 1992.
On June 25, after a two-month battle between Nestlé and Jacobs Suchard, neither a welcome suitor, Rowntree was acquired by Nestlé, whose winning £2.5 billion bid made the deal the largest takeover of a British company by a foreign one to date.
Nestlé agreed to keep Rowntree's headquarters in York and has created a chocolate, confectionery, and biscuit group based in York responsible for Nestlé's worldwide chocolate and confectionery strategy
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1890
Marriage of Violet and John Mackintosh. Soon after they opened a small business in a rented shop at 53 King Cross Street, Halifax, selling Violet's home-made cakes, pastries and tarts.
They soon discovered that the bulk of their trade was on a Saturday afternoon when people were not working, and they sought to find a product which people could eat throughout the week, even if they only bought it on the one day.
Violet devised a recipe which combined the hard and brittle qualities of traditional English toffee – much like a butterscotch – with the softer caramel which had recently arrived from the USA. They called the result Mackintosh's Celebrated Toffee
1894
Moved to a factory in Bond Street in and to larger premises in Hope Street, Halifax
1896
New flavours had joined his original culinary creation of toffee deluxe – including creamery toffee, Yorkshire dairy, Yorkshire buttercups, aniseed toffee and egg and milk toffee.
As new products were developed, John Mackintosh promoted them using the power of advertising. The company would often advertise in national newspapers and publicity stunts were common with free samples being used to tempt new customers together with competitions and prizes
1899
J. Mackintosh Limited, a limited liability company, was established with a capital of £15,000. That year a new factory, Kingston Confectionary Works, was built on Queens Road; The business prospered and Mackintosh toffee was being exported to Italy, Spain and China
1904
Mackintosh opened a factory in the United States. In 1909 the Queens Road factory was destroyed in a fire but rebuilt soon afterwards. Premises in Albion Road were leased whilst the new Queens Road factory was being built and were then retained on a permanent basis
1906
In Germany Mackintosh's established a factory at Crefeld, near Cologne, which was in active operation until the outbreak of war in 1914
1909
On November 2nd the Queen's Road Factory was destroyed in a fire
1917
John Mackintosh sent a letter to the Editor of the newly named Halifax Courier on 21st September, 1917 appealing for help for prisoners of war. Saying that 180 men had gone from his firm. He enclosed a cheque for £60 to cover the cost of a Christmas parcel to each of them, leaving a balance over for a few who had no one to watch over their interests.
1920
John Mackintosh died on 27th January. His funeral took place at Queens Road Church. His son Harold became chairman of the company.
In the same year the company was put into voluntary liquidation and the firm of John Mackintosh and Sons formed with 1,000 employees. Under Harold, the company continued to prosper
1922
A laboratory was opened in Halifax
Harold Mackintosh was knighted when he was 31, one of the youngest ever people to be knighted for his work with Sunday schools
1928
Harold Mackintosh was involved in the amalgamation of a group of Halifax building societies into the Halifax Building Society
1930
Mackintosh acquired A.J. Caley and Son Ltd. in Norwich. The Caley company began in 1880 as a chemist's shop, selling mineral waters as a sideline. From soft drinks Caley branched into cocoa as a way of providing its customers with a winter drink, and from there began making chocolate.
In the early 1930's celebrated illustrator Heath Robinson was commissioned to create a cartoon showing the Mackintosh factory in full swing.
The acquisition of Caley expanded Mackintosh's chocolate line considerably.
1932
The Irish business of Mackintosh and Rowntree merged to form the Associated Chocolate and Confectionery Co. Ltd.
1936
Mackintosh's most famous creation Quality Street was produced in Halifax. The name came from a play by Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie and the characters on the tin and packaging, Major Quality and Miss Sweetly becoming synonymous with the famous chocolates and toffees.
To launch the selection, Mackintosh took out an advertisement on the front page of the Daily Mail, on May 2, 1936
1939
The Irish business of Mackintosh and Rowntree merged and reorganised as one company for the manufacture of chewing gum led to the formation of Allied Confectionery Manufacturers Ltd
1946
Mackintosh's was able to begin rebuilding its Norwich factory
1950
The Quality Street brand was first exported to the United States
1956
The Norwich factory was reopened
1959
Caramac was first produced in Halifax
1964
Mackintosh acquired the firm of Joseph Bellamy and Sons of Castleford, liquorice manufacturers
1966
Mackintosh acquired the firm of Gainsborough Craftsmen Ltd who designed and built special purpose machines mainly for the food processing industry.
1971
The new Rowntree Mackintosh also lost no time in making more acquisitions, buying James Stedman Ltd. of Australia and the chocolate confectionery business of Chocolat-Menier S.A.
1973
Rowntree Mackintosh acquired Chocolat Ibled S.A.
1982
The parent company changed its name to Rowntree Mackintosh PLC
1987
The company incorporated four new trading subsidiaries in the United Kingdom: Rowntree Mackintosh Confectionery Ltd., Rowntree Mackintosh Distribution, Rowntree Mackintosh Export Ltd., and Rowntree Mackintosh European Exports Ltd
The name Mackintosh was dropped
