My father, Norman T. Bruce, worked for many years as an engineer at the Scrubs Lane Lesme factory site. In June 1937, aged 27, he applied to work as a maintenance engineer at Bee Bee Biscuits, then wholly owned by the Lesme company. He was interviewed by a Mr Bux on 29 June and notified the following day that his application had been successful. He began work on 12 July at a salary of £4 a week. J. Lyons acquired a majority stake in Bee Bee Biscuits the following year, but as far as my father was concerned, the top man of both his company and Lesme was Mr Leslie Atwell.

My father was fortunate to be classified as an essential worker during the war, with his military experience limited to Home Guard duties, frequently stationed on the roof of the five or six-storey Lesme building. He left in 1946 and, for two years, operated a wireless repair retail business off the Harrow Road. This was unsuccessful, and he was again lucky to be invited by Mr Atwell to work as a plant engineer at Lesme. He soon rose to become the company plant engineer. Despite having no formal training, he was fully responsible for the installation and upkeep of the equipment. His luck was enduring. For instance, I am sure he supervised the lifting of the massively heavy new conche machinery onto the top floor with his heart in his mouth. Indeed, I doubt he even knew for certain the load-bearing capacity of the top floors to support all the machinery.

His immediate boss, Derek Anderson, first shown around the factory by my father when still a schoolboy, had an unfortunate management style. After especially negative encounters, my father made it a practice of climbing to the top floor and slowly count to ten as he gazed out the large windows. Whilst the view of Kensal Green graveyard in the distance was discouraging, at least it generated an ambition – the worst place in the world was to be buried in line of sight of the factory at Kensal Green so he would retire and end his days at his childhood home in West Sussex.

I also worked at Lesme for a few weeks in 1961 or 1962, and was interviewed by Mr Leslie Atwell, who struck me as very pleasant. I also met his son David, who was obviously going through a period of induction by working in each of the departments. At that time, he was working with the lab manager, whose name I think was Luckwell. This may be unfair, but I had the distinct impression that Luckwell spent more time on the Daily Telegraph crossword puzzle in his office than his lab, the real work being undertaken by a team of young ladies.

My father should have retired in 1974 but was asked to work another two years until replacement engineers could be found. I contacted David Atwell many years later, around 1987, asking if my father could see the Banbury plant. I was very grateful that this was granted, and my father was hugely interested and impressed to see the changes and expansion in the scale of the plant.

My father successively lived at Arundel and Storrington and he died in 1996.

Between 1959and ’62 I was part of the buying team of Walls Ice Cream, firstly as the Buyer and Stock Controller at their Manchester Godley factory and then later at the Head Office at Wembley. The two people I knew were Atkinson and Jackson . One of them went to South Africa on some mission in November ’61.
I always found Lesme a very good supplier to work with and glad to read they have survived the past 60 years in one way or another..

My mother Sheila, now a sprightly 95, worked as a PA for your grandfather in the late 60s. I recall visiting the Scrubs Lane factory and having a tour of the manufacturing operation. Then proudly submitting this as a school project whilst munching through piles of chocolate drops

I worked at Lesme Scrubs lane 1960 as electricians maté there were about eight maintenance people at the time and all the other operatives were mostly West Indian origin had a lovely time there When I went for my interview it was at Cadby Hall Which was Lyon’s at the time There was a Unigate depot next to Lesme

Please forgive my ignorance – I am ashamed to say I hadn’t heard of S & A Lesme, nor Callebaut, before visiting the Banbury site in about 1994, before we (VEGA) supplied pressure/level transmitters for the production area. However, the taste of the chocolate in the gift packs we were given was a major revelation for my taste buds, and I have been singing your praises ever since. These days I have to restrain my sugar consumption, so I’ve become a bit of a nerd on the subject of ‘no added sugar chocolate’. However, I wish R&A the very best of luck / success in the future – and although I know it makes me look cheap, I’d like to volunteer for any product testing that’s going! AB

I remember the sign Lesme make friends with the coco bean or something like that. Brings back a lot of memories, I was about 13 then. Wow

My dad, Jim Humphrey worked for Lesme for 40+ years and moved with them to Banbury. I remember going to Scrubbs Lane as a child and like you having a never ending supply of chocolate as a child. He was Chief Engineer when he retired and sadly he passed away 14 years ago and your dad very kindly came to the funeral. A few weeks ago my mum and I were in a restaurant in Plymouth and she knew the taste of the chocolate immediately and was so happy when the chef told her it was Barry Callibeaut. This article has brought up so many memories of my dad and many of his colleagues. Congratulations on your new adventure and long may it last .

My memory of Lesme is, as a child, seeing the sign from the train or tube when going to visit my grandmother who lived in Kensal Green in the sixties and early seventies.