'This is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for grown-ups. Inside are treats for all – nostalgia freaks, social historians, machinery nerds and anyone interested in marketing, manufacturing or in the history of British tooth decay.'

Lucy Kellaway, Financial Times.

Britain’s industry once rose on the back of family firms like Trebor - plucky, private ventures that punched above their weight. From hard roots in the Victorian East End of London, this tiny sugar-boiling enterprise grew to become the nation’s biggest maker of sugar confectionery.

Many Trebor sweets are legendary. Refreshers. Extra Strong Mints. Black Jacks. Fruit Salad. Over time the Trebor family added other iconic names: Sharps Toffees, Clarnico Mint Creams, Topps Bubble Gum and Maynards Wine Gums.

This book brings back the world that made those sweets: the Trebor factories and sales vans, the darts teams and work outings – all the ecosystem of a thriving family business, from a time when managers could tend a firm rather than simply feed shareholders.

Today Trebor still leads UK mints, but only as a name owned by a global snack giant. The firm is long gone. So too are most of its products. The Trebor Story remembers not just a bold and caring business, but also the variety – and fun – once brought by sweets.

Copyright Muddler Books 2013

'Lovingly researched and sumptuously illustrated, this is a fascinating account of one of Britain's vintage brands.'

Nuala Calvi and Duncan Barrett, authors of The Sugar Girls.

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