A wholesaler that sources Liverpool's pick 'n' mix celebrated its 60 year anniversary this week.
Hancocks, a nationwide sweet wholesaler that has a store in Bootle, reached six decades of putting smiles on the faces of kids and adults alike by providing local retailers with the vital sugary goods of their trade. Staff at the Bootle store also celebrated their own milestone this year, reaching 15 years of supplying Liverpool's sweet shops with their pick 'n' mix.
Staff said they were 'delighted' to reach the milestone and celebrated in store with customers. Sweet treats were also supplied, though not of the kind Hancocks deals in.
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Kelly Rogers, manager of the Liverpool shop, said: “We’re delighted to be celebrating the 60th anniversary of Hancocks. For any business to reach such an anniversary is a real milestone, even more so after the last two years and the changes we’ve all had to make to adapt to the challenges of the pandemic.
“During that time we’ve seen our customer base evolve too. As well as local retailers, we also supply entrepreneurial online sweet shop businesses set up by people in the city and bakers and cake decorators who turned their passion into a business during the pandemic.”
The customers of Hancocks were also brought into the celebrations. Daniel Atherton, whose online sweet-treat postal service Treaty Pie is supplied by Hancocks, provided special cupcakes, decorated with the Hancocks logo, for the occasion.
Quay Confectionery on the Albert Dock is another customer of the business and has been for years. Ray Mitchell, who opened Quay Confectionery originally as a craft shop in the late 1980s said that Hancocks has helped his water-side business flourish.
He said: "I had a craft shop in Cornwall for a couple of years and in 1988 opened a craft shop in the Albert Dock with a fudge shop next door. Some years later I knocked through, joining the two shops together and decided to concentrate solely on confectionery.
“Although I am still selling handmade fudge, Hancocks has enabled me to sell a broader range of sweets. I stock a large selection of pick & mix, a kids novelty range, retro sweets and more recently a range of American sweets.”
