A story of flavour, grit and a slightly mad amount of effort

Discover the full story

1870

Our story starts long before 1886

Fredrick Franklin went to America in search of something new.

He discovers the soda fountains of Chicago and knew he had to bring a part of that home to England.

1880

In the back of the family sweetshop, he created a Victorian flavour workshop

Using their knowledge as confectioners to trials sweetness, bitters and spices in their creations.

1886

Trial and error, perfecting their craft

They were experimenting with flavour, fizz, and ways of created beautifully crafted soft drinks, which left to their official trademark being granted in 1886.

1891

Soon enough, the shop became too small

So, the brothers moved to a larger space and started producing at real scale.

1895

Then they sailed to India because the ginger wasn’t good enough

Fast forward a couple of years, and the brothers found the spices in London just wasn’t good enough. They decided to take a short trip, across the sea, to India and found the best ginger they could… This was important to ensuring the quality of the liquid. Quality which is still just as important to us today.

1905

Ginger beer, but under pressure in every sense

In 1905, the Rickmansworth factory suffered a fermentation explosion. Without proper temperature control, bottles could over carbonate and explode. So yes, ginger beer was delicious. It was also, at times, quite violent.

1910

One minute, soft drinks. Next minute, civil duty

Their drinks were delivered on horse-drawn drays across Hertfordshire and London. But the remarkable thing is that those same horses also served the local fire brigade. It is such a good image.

1914

…and then there was only one

The horse-drawn days were replaced by motorised lorries, which revolutionised the business. Then William and James Franklin were enlisted, with sadly only James returning to continue work alongside his brother, Fredrick Jr.

1920

Soft drinks and socialising on the rise

The 1920s and 1930s brought major growth in soft drinks. People were back to socialising and being leisurely. Franklin & Sons expanded it’s flavour range with Cherryade, Limeade and Cream Soda.

1940

Then the war arrives and nothing is small anymore

Mid-century Britain was not especially kind to independent soft drinks businesses. Bigger brewers began controlling large numbers of pubs and dictated what could be sold through them. James and Fredrick Jr leaned into distribution, securing a strong local network delivering cider and even other soft drinks brands.

1953

A time to celebrate with a soft drink

Franklin & Sons was well established into the London lifestyle and our iconic bottles were visible at street parties all across the UK.

1989

The bottles stopped, the name went quiet

After more than a century of continuous family led operations, the Rickmansworth mill ceased trading. The bottles stopped, the name went quiet.

2015

Franklin & Sons, back to life!

Jumping forward again, as we all know, in 2015, an entrepreneurial Steve Perez brought the brand back to life, maintaining family ownership and that pioneering attitude.

Today

Which brings us to now

140 years of pioneering excellence, 140 more years to come.

The next chapter is ours to write