MEMORIES: Five decades of Wigan Heinz factory staff and event pictures

Heinz has been one of Wigan’s biggest employers for many decades with a factory first in Standish and then its massive plant at Kitt Green which produces billions of baked beans a year to this day.

By Charles Graham

Published 13th Nov 2023, 15:45 GMT

This picture gallery celebrates its workers over the decades, from the 1950s through to the famous royal visit in 2009 to celebrate the Kitt Green operation’s golden anniversary.

1. Heinz Kitt Green workers Chris Humphries and Susan Kennedy in front of a display of photograhs which were on show as part of celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the factory's opening

. Photo: NICK FAIRHURST

2. A young visitor gets to sample a new soup range during a visit to the Heinz factory in Kitt Green in 1986

. Photo: STAFF

3. Heinz chefs Steve Moffitt and Julie Peeks, pictured at the Heinz factory in Wigan, had created the formula for what they claimed was the perfect way to cook baked beans on toast. They said there was an exact science in order to enjoy the dish at its best

. Photo: Howard Walker

4. Front office accounts in the early days of the Kitt Green factory

. Photo: SUBMITTED

Memories Wigan Standish