West African countries
were preparing for independence and the company made changes in its business accordingly. It deliberately
tried to increase its industrial base, rather than acting solely as merchants.
Accordingly, in 1948, Paterson Zochonis bought a soap factory in Aba, Nigeria.
This proved to be a landmark in the company’s history, a soap as become major part of its trade Constantine Zochonis died in 1951 and was
succeeded by his cousin, Alexander H. Loupos.
Two years later Paterson Zochonis & Company Limited became a public the
United
Kingdom, although the majority shareholding was kept' by the zochonis
family. It continued to expand and in
1961 established a new factory at Aba to produce toiletries and pharmaceuticals. However, at the same time its traditional business began to decline. During the 1970s, it discontinued its trade in
cotton fabrics. A, H. Loupos retired in 1976. He was succeeded by John Basil
Zochonis, son of C.P. Zochonis, as chairman and Basil Spoudeas as
managing director.
Under this new team Paterson Zochonis continue to thrive. The company
built a new plant near Lagos for further production of toiletries, cosmetics
and Pharmaceuticals. In 1973, it entered both the detergent and
domestic refrigerator markets, and quickly gained a leading position in the refrigerator market. The company then established
Associated Industries (Ghana) Ltd and
the Terna Thread Company Ltd, also in Ghana Paterson
Zochonis also expanded in Britain, in 1972, the company bought Roberts Laboratories
Ltd of Bolton, who manufactured proprietary drugs. Then in 1975, it bought the Cussons Group Ltd, whose brand names included
Imperial Leather. During the 1980s, Paterson Zochonis continued to
expand its toiletries, Pharmaceuticals and refrigeration
operations. In the early 1980s, the company's turnover approached £500 million
and group profits were over £30 million. By the 1990s, the company was shifting
its emphasis and had established important trading links with Eastern Europe,
China, South East Asia and Australia. It concentrated on the manufacture and
marketing of their branded
products. This shift was reflected in
the company’s decision to adopt cussons (International) Ltd as the group name, although the name has since been
changed to PZ cussons Plc .
We have adopted (SBU)
structure, in which each SBU structure,
in which each SBU focus on its markets; developing a deep understanding of the needs and
aspirations of s consumers and the dynamics
of the marketplace, which it can exploit to deliver its objectives. Business policies, systems and actions
(procedures and processes, corporate and personal ethics, corporate image,
employee development, equality of opportunity, remuneration, services provided to distributors etc) are harmonized between
all our SBUs. Ensuring the sharing of best practice and operational
synergies combining our financial strength
and the commercial acumen encouraged at all levels longest our people, we are
positioning ourselves to seize profitable new opportunities within Kr chosen sectors. The Importance
of Our People firmly
believe that our people are our greatest asset. As we strive for world-class
standards in aspect of
our enterprise, our employees arc encouraged to manage and delegate, in accept responsibility and to recognized that they arc
both empowered for their actions have
recently received an email they appears to be from PZ Cussons with an offer of
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Cussons, please be aware that this may
not be an official correspondence from PZ Cussons. If you are interested in a
career with PZ Cussons, you can find more information on our careers site.
STRATEGY
PZ Cussons
operates in Africa, Asia and Europe with its strategy built on four core
principles operate in selected markets that
have the potential emerging markets.
Our presence across Africa, Asia and
Europe ensures a naturally balanced portfolio
of global markets, which wp continually
review to ensure they provide the Group with the best opportunities for
profitability with. We take pride in our knowledge of local marketswhich
enables us to respond quickly and appropriately to local needs.
We develop lending brands for the markets in which we operate. Whilst
some have global reach, the majority of our brands arc sold only in local and regional
markets as we create
products particularly
suited to local needs and tastes. Our strategy is to grow these brands so they achieve
category leading positions in their markets and we continually review and expand the categories
in which we operate to ensure profitable growth. We arc proud of our portfolio
of category leading brands which are developed to satisfy the particular needs
of local onsumers.
We operate world class supply chain networks that enable us to deliver
our brands quickly and efficiently to our local consumers. Our distribution
systems vary by market type, from traditional supply chain models in
mature markets to extensive nationwide depot networks in emerging markets. We
continually adapt our methods of distribution to suit our local markets and to
changing market needs. We take pride in our flexible distribution capability
which is tailored specifically for the local
market.
We recruit, develop and retain a
great team of people who are aligned with our values and who can drive our pans for growth. Our
aim is to create a high performance culture offering career experiences and
development. We work together as a true meritocracy where leadership is determined by
talent.