Lever Brothers

Lever Brothers
IndustryConsumer Goods
Founded1884; 140 years ago (1884) in Warrington, England
FoundersWilliam Hesketh Lever
James Darcy Lever
Defunct1930 (1930)
FateMerged with Margarine Unie
SuccessorUnilever
BrandsSunlight
Lifebuoy
Lux
Vim
Number of employees
250,000 (1930)
ParentUnilever Edit this on Wikidata
SubsidiariesCurtis Davis Company
Huileries du Congo Belge
A&F Pears
Gossage's
Watson's
Crosfield's
Hazlehurst & Sons
Hudson's

Lever Brothers was a British manufacturing company founded in 1885 by two brothers: William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), and James Darcy Lever (1854–1916). They invested in and successfully promoted a new soap-making process invented by chemist William Hough Watson. Lever Brothers entered the United States market in 1895 and acquired Mac Fisheries, owner of T. Wall & Sons, in 1925. Lever Brothers was one of several British companies that took an interest in the welfare of its British employees. Its brands included Lifebuoy, Lux and Vim. Lever Brothers merged with Margarine Unie to form Unilever in 1929.[1]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Unilever global company website was invoked but never defined (see the help page).