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One
Hundred Years' Experience
Taylors of Harrogate was founded in 1886 in the city of Leeds
by Charles Taylor, who had acquired a wealth of experience
whilst he was the northern agent for a London tea company. He
had noticed how local variations in the water supply could
affect the quality of a brew, and made it his first priority
to supply the most suitable blend of tea for each area. His
attention to detail was soon reflected in the success of his
products, and, as the company grew, it diversified. From being
simply a regional wholesaler of teas, Taylors opened a chain
of shops known as 'The Kiosks'. Here customers could meet over
a cup of tea in the cafe. Today just one Taylors Kiosk remains
- Taylors in Stonegate, in the mediaeval city of York.
Taylors and Bettys Join Forces
These cafes were very successful in the years leading up to
the Second World War, culminating in the opening of the Cafe
Imperial in the beautiful spa town of Harrogate, which served
exotic teas from all over the world to the accompaniment of a
string quartet. After the War, however, it became increasingly
difficult to keep the larger cafes open and, by the 1960s,
Taylors had joined forces with its friendly rival, Bettys Cafe
Tea Rooms. Like Taylors Kiosks, Bettys were family-owned tea
rooms with a reputation for delicious cakes and excellent
service. With all Bettys experience in running cafes, Taylors
decided to concentrate on what Charles Taylor had done best,
blending exotic teas from all over the world for our customers
to enjoy.
The Queen’s Award for Enterprise
Every year The Queen recognizes the country's most successful
businesses in the annual Queen's Award for Enterprise. A
handful of companies are presented with awards in categories
such as exporting, innovation and trade. Bettys & Taylors were
among the first-ever winners of a Queen’s Award for
Sustainable Development.
The award for sustainable development is presented to
companies that balance good sales with strong social and
environmental values, businesses which grow and prosper in a
way that puts more back into society than they take out.
To qualify for the award we had to pass an extremely tough
assessment procedure. The award is given to us by the Queen
herself, on the advice of the Prime Minister and his panel of
judges. Here's just a few of the reasons we were recognized:
We're environmentally aware. We've been presented with many
environmental awards and steadfastly refuse to use the plastic
carrier bag!
We plant trees around the world. Thanks to our Trees for Life
appeal, we've planted more than 2 million trees over the last
12 years.
We have a long history of working with local communities, from
schools to local charities and clubs. Our Cookery School holds
two schools education days every month.
We support our wider community by being trained in first aid.
We have a higher proportion of first aiders than do most
businesses and we were one of the first businesses to use
defibrillators. Our first aiders give more first aid out
shopping than they do at work!
We're committed to keeping alive traditional craft skills and
training staff–as recognized by the Sunday Times survey which
ranked us the 20th Best Company to Work For in the UK.
We're committed to thinking about staff, suppliers, and our
local and global communities in our planning and daily running
of the business. We're particularly proud of our relationship
with the Mandela-inspired tea estate in Kwazulu-Natal and were
one of its first customers.
Gift Certificates
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Taylors of Harrogate
