Thornton’s
Thorntons Plc is one of the United Kingdom’s leading manufacturers and retailer of specialist chocolates. It is a British chocolate company established by Joseph William Thornton in 1911, the company remains more than 30 percent owned by the Thornton family. It is a company of nearly £200 million turnover with 400 shops and number of franchise. There are currently 4,539 employees working with the company. The company had followed a strategy of in-house manufacture and retailing largely through the company’s own shops and to a lesser extent through franchising. In 2001, the company also began rolling out a line of products to be sold through the supermarket channel. Thornton’s product not only focuses on chocolates, fudge, and toffee but also include other candies and ice creams flavours. This commitment to quality has gained the company a strong reputation throughout the United Kingdom and made it one of the country's most popular brands. And this followed by the takeover of Cadbury by the US company Kraft which led to Thorntons being the largest independent chocolate and confectionery company in the United Kingdom. The tag line of the company: “The Art of Chocolatier” is proving its meaning. The stores offer premium and hand-crafted boxed chocolates, hampers, gift boxes, corporate gifts, and seasonal candies.
The environmental factors which affect the running and the strategy from outside and which are not in control of the company are known as Macro-environmental factors. These are factors which are often beyond the control or influence of a business, and that's why it is important to be aware of them to deal with in the strategy of the organization. PESTEL analysis is a way of examining or analysing the macro-environmental factors in which a company operates. This will identify and evaluate Thornton’s strategic development from set up to the present time.
POLITICAL: At the moment there is no major political problem for Thornton’s