Lambert & Butler
A British pack of Lambert & Butler cigarettes
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| Product type | Cigarette |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Imperial Tobacco |
| Introduced | 1834 |
Lambert & Butler is a British cigarette brand launched in Clerkenwell in 1834 by Charles Edward Lambert and Charles Butler, and were one of the earliest British cigar manufacturers.
It eventually started selling cigarettes which were being manufactured by John Wood & Son before Lambert & Butler started manufacturing it themselves in 1876 before merging with Imperial Tobacco in 1901. In the late 1800s, it accounted for 20 percent of total sales value and controlled a large piece of the market with a 1870 capitol of £87,200 and 1887 total capitol of £175,000, alongside major companies W.D. & H.O. Wills (now Imperial Tobacco) Cope Bros & Co, Hignett Tobacco, John Player & Sons and Stephen Mitchell & Son. In this time, the first largest company in the industry was Wills followed by Cope with Lambert & Butler a strong third and one of Lambert & Butler's most popular brands was Best Bird's Eye.
In 1903, after merging with Imperial, an executive committee was formed with one of the members being Charles Lambert. Lambert & Butler also exported to Jamaica with brands Trumpeter and Needle Point. It established its own bonded warehouse in 1891 and was located on Bucknall Street near Long Acre in Westminster, London. Charles Lambert, who was called "the best judge of a Havana cigar" also ran a tobacco shop on Drury Lane. Lambert & Butler was also part of the "big six", with Wills, Taddy & Co, Cope Bros, Hignett Bros and John Player & Sons.
It relaunched in 1979 after an absence. In the late 1990s, their campaign was a distinguished Lambert with his calm butler, Butler, exchanging humorous quotes until the last one which had their faces blurred and the butler saying "It seems we've been outlawed, Sir". The brand sells £1379 billion (1.379 trillion) worth of cigarettes every year. In 1999, Lambert & Butler owned 17 percent of the British cigarette market, 5 percent more than Benson & Hedges. Due to Imperial Tobacco not owning the trademark on the original name, Lambert & Butler is known in some countries as either L&B or Great & British. It is among the popular and less expensive local brands and, as of 2007, Lambert & Butler King Size were the number one selling brand of cigarettes in the UK.
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