Walker's History
Walker’s Nonsuch is one of England’s finest and oldest makers of traditional toffee.
We are based in the heart of the Potteries, in Longton, Stoke on Trent and we are proud to be one of the few companies left in the sweetie industry who are family owned, and independent.
Today my Father Ian is our Managing Director, he has worked here at the factory for 56 years and has an abundance of expert knowledge on production, selling and running of the company.
My sister Katie looks after the UK sales, my cousin Edward is in charge of factory production and me, I look after the marketing, export sales and new product design.
Adrian Hill is our operations director, who has been with Walkers for 27 years.
We also consider ourselves very lucky to have a great loyal team.
I believe the secret to our success and longevity is our quality. Just as Edward Joseph (my great grandfather) always wanted to make the best toffee ever, we have continued his dream and use good wholesome ingredients including whole milk, butter and Belgian chocolate despite rising raw materials costs.
Edward Joseph was a former potter, and had opened a sweet shop with his sister Florence. In the late 19th Century he began making toffee for local customers. It was such a success that he went on to open a small factory.
In 1915, Edward enrolled his son, Edward Victor, my Grandfather. Together they made the delicious toffee to the original recipe and Walker’s was born and later established as an independent company with limited liability in 1922.
The business flourished however, with the onset of the Second World War and in the post war years Granddad had to restrict his production as it was so difficult to source the ingredients and we had the era of sweet rationing.
After restrictions were lifted, he decided to grow the business further and moved to a larger factory. The new factory (built in 1894) had previously belonged to Horleston Brothers Ltd, who made boiled sweets - we eventually bought out in 1947 along with Siddalls Blue Churn confectionery later in 1961. This factory remains the home of Walkers Toffee today.
In 1962 when Granddad (Edward Victor) died my dad Ian and his late brother Edward (1931 - 1981) were appointed joint managing directors. Together, they invested in to modern equipment enabling much bigger capacity, the ambition to still making only the best toffee ever.
In the fifties Walker’s became a UK brand and in turn enquiries started to flood in from overseas.
In 1974 we took a big step and started to exhibit our lovely toffees at an international fair in Cologne. This was the start of our exports what is today a very healthy and valuable part of our business. Our toffees now go out to over 35 countries and there is still room for growth as the word spreads.
We are passionate about our toffee and are following in our great Grandfather’s mission to make England’s finest toffee.
