Home sweet home

Like many of those living in the chocolate-box village of Bournville, pensioner Mary Farr’s life would have been very different without Cadbury being around.

She literally owes the house she has lived in since 1966 to her connection to the chocolate-maker’s factory, which is the major local employer and dominates the village landscape.

Her landlord is the Bournville Works Housing Society, a housing co-operative which provides housing solely for long-standing Cadbury employees and their families.

Despite the pouring rain, it is not difficult to see why she loves living here so much. Just four miles from the centre of Birmingham, Bournville feels about as far away from everyday urban chaos as the moon. Greenery is the order of the day here, with rows of beautifully maintained gardens leading up to picture-perfect homes.

For Mary it means even more. Her home’s cheap rent helped her and her late husband John, who both worked at the factory, afford to start a family, she states. A grant from Cadbury later helped them send their children to university. Even in her retirement the link is still there - the firm sends its former employees a box full of chocolates every Christmas.

All these benefits stem from Bournville founder George Cadbury’s vision, informed by his Quaker faith, of creating a model community. When he built his factory in the south Birmingham village in 1875 he aimed to improve residents’ living conditions and chances in life as well as provide employment.

‘It sounds too much like an idyll really but Cadbury has done its best for the place,’ Mrs Farr says. ‘We considered ourselves very lucky to have a house on this estate.’

Pensioner Doreen Martin has lived in Bournville since she was one-year-old. She lives in a BWHS home with her husband Malcolm. Her brother lives in the house next door.

She agrees with Mrs Farr: ‘Bournville means everything to me,’ she states. ‘We are just one big, happy community.’

Both fear that the good times could be about to end - at least for Bournville’s next generation of residents. Last week the Cadbury board advised its shareholders to accept an offer, worth between £11-£12 billion, from US food company Kraft, perhaps best known for its range of cheese slices.

Mrs Martin fears the move could spell job losses at the factory - residents continually cite the closure of the Terry’s chocolate factory in York, also owned by Kraft, back in 2005.

‘I was devastated [about the takeover] because I don’t think that they will keep the factory going,’ she states.

So how is Bournville adjusting to the news of the takeover and what impact could it have on both its 25,000 residents and landlords operating in the area?

Mrs Farr is not alone in her concerns. Paul Chilton, chair of the BWHS, says a number of its 314 tenants have contacted him worried that their homes are at risk because BWHS’ constitution means it only houses Cadbury employees and their relatives.

Mr Chilton, who worked at the factory between 1974 and 1987 and lives in a BWHS home next door to his mother, states he has had ‘phone calls, emails and all sorts of stuff coming in’.

‘People have been really worried,’ he states. ‘They are asking “what is going to happen to our homes?”.’

Food for thought

He is at pains to point out that BWHS is independent of Cadbury and no-one will lose their house.

But if the takeover goes ahead he admits it will cause the landlord some headaches.

‘Our ethos is going to have to change depending on what Kraft do and what they leave us with,’ he states. ‘If they reduce staffing levels that will have an impact on who applies to us for houses and homes. Do we then open access up to anyone else or do we carry on as we are for as long as we can?’

He states that he is ‘not optimistic’ about the impact the takeover will have on Bournville’s quiet community.

‘Terry’s is now an empty shell,’ he states. ‘Cadbury has always been the hub of this community.’

The village’s biggest social landlord is Bournville Village Trust, founded in 1900 by George Cadbury, which owns and manages some 8,000 homes. Peter Roach, its chief executive, confirms that it has also had to reassure tenants that their homes are not at risk because of the merger. But he still thinks the community could ultimately pay a heavy price.

‘About £7 billion of the bid is debt finance and debt needs to be repaid,’ he states. ‘There would be a danger of Kraft looking to bear down on costs. That would be the key local concern at the moment - loss of jobs.’

While BVT is totally independent of Cadbury, its staff, including Mr Roach, are members of the Cadbury pension scheme.

‘It is raw speculation but as costs come under the Kraft microscope we could speculate about the future of the Cadbury pension fund,’ Mr Roach adds. ‘I’m currently in the process of winding up my wife by saying that my pension is going to be paid in cheese triangles.’

BVT could also become a factor in Kraft’s thinking about the future of the Cadbury plant. It owns the freehold to a significant chunk of land on the site that was set aside for recreational facilities for the staff by George Cadbury. The landlord is currently considering the possible implications of this.

Alan Shrimpton, a former BVT director who, amid a myriad of other local roles also now provides tours of the area, says it is clear that BVT and others will make sure the Cadbury ethos survives.

‘Bournville is a fabulous place,’ he states. ‘People could still learn lessons from it today. This is the ‘Rolls Royce’ of social housing.’

Indeed, BVT is arguably already more authentically Cadbury than Dairy Milk because it is chaired by a Cadbury and has six other members of the family on its board of trustees.

Much like Cadbury it is also involved in the lives of its community beyond simply providing them with houses. It also owns and runs a museum used by local school children and a few years ago helped to campaign against a Tesco Metro store obtaining a liquor licence (the village’s Quaker roots remain strong and it has no pubs or off-licences).

Tough times may lie ahead - but BVT and BWHS are both in it for the long haul. And they provide the clearest demonstration possible that, Cadbury or no Cadbury, Bournville will eventually emerge from the storm smelling of roses.

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