The Chocolate Works

The Chocolate Works
The former Terry's chocolate factory, 2008. Taken from the 4th floor of the Ebor stand at York Racecourse
General information
Type	Former Chocolate-factory
Architectural style	Art Deco
Town or city	York
Country	England
Coordinates	53°56′26″N 1°05′23″W / 53.94068°N 1.089596°W / 53.94068; -1.089596Coordinates: 53°56′26″N 1°05′23″W / 53.94068°N 1.089596°W / 53.94068; -1.089596
Construction started	1924
Completed	1926
Owner	Grantside

The Chocolate Works was the confectionery factory of Terry's of York, England. Opened in 1926, it closed in 2005 with the loss of 300 jobs, with production moved to other Kraft Foods sites in mainland Europe. Today, the site is being redeveloped as a mixed-use residential/commercial real estate development.

In 1923, Frank and Noel Terry joined the family business, Terry's of York. They revamped the company, launching new products, and bought a site off Bishopthorpe Road, York on which to develop a new factory. Built in an Art Deco style, the factory known as The Chocolate Works included a distinct clock tower.

Opened in 1926, new products including the Chocolate Apple (1926), Terry's Chocolate Orange (1931), and Terry's All Gold were all developed and produced onsite.

With the onset of World War II, confectionery production was immediately halted. The factory was taken over by F Hills and Sons of Manchester as a shadow factory, to manufacturer and repair aircraft propeller blades.

With the factory handed back to the company post-war, production was difficult due to rationing and limited imports of raw cocoa. As a result, in 1954 production of the chocolate apple was phased out in favour of increased production of the chocolate orange.

In 1975, Terry's was acquired by United Biscuits, forming the bulk of their confectionery division. After UB ran into financial difficulties in the early 1990s, they sold their entire confectionery division to Kraft Foods, who amalgamated it with Jacobs Suchard to create Terry's Suchard.