History
Our History
A young man named William Lillico joined a seeds and grain business in Croydon in 1865, as an apprentice to William Lock. His hard work, progressive nature and traditional values resulted in him inheriting the business in 1881. Some 170 years later, after acquisitions, wars and depressions, the fourth generation of the family, Patrick Walker, now runs the family business which continues to flourish and thrive.
Saracen Horse Feeds, established in 1989 as the specialist horse feed division of WM Lillico, remains family owned but became a limited company in its own right in April 2010. Today, Saracen Horse Feeds Ltd takes pride in its traditional family heritage, and manages to stay true to these values of trust, integrity, quality, and commitment to our customers. In changing environments and differing needs, Saracen Horse Feeds manage to combine these values with modern technological manufacturing requirements, research and formulations, making the company quite unique.
How We Gained Our Traditional Values
1840 - William Lock established original grain chandler and seeds business.
William Lillico joined William Lock as an apprentice in 1865, and inherited the business on William Lock’s retirement in 1881. He continued to run the business as a partnership until his death in 1929.
1937 - WM Lillico & Sons becomes WM Lillico Ltd.
1935 - WM Lillico takes on agriculture business managed and owned by George Bennet at Platt Mill.
1960 - WM Lillico acquires the old established business of Bradley, Taylor & Youngman based in Maidenhead.
1973 - Acquires JW Attlee, an established business since 1788, sold when no Attlees remained to continue the running of the business (Clement Attlee, labour Prime Minister 1945-1951 was a cousin of the family)
1977 - Midhurst Granaries acquired
1982 - WM Lillico Croydon office sold and relocated to Aylesford, Kent
As trading conditions changed and systems required rationalisation, the company moved to its current position of trading its agricultural business from Aylesford and Dorking as “Lillico Attlee”
1989 - Saracen Horse Feeds Established
Saracen Horse Feeds Ltd is renowned for providing real solutions for the changing requirements of equine nutrition. We seek to understand the real needs of our customers and using unique research methods through our partnership with Kentucky Equine Research, we are able to produce innovative, unique and high quality feed formulations.
