William H. Lever: World Influence Beyond Just Soap

No person has influenced the industry of soap making as did the English industrialist, businessman, philanthropist and politician William H. Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme. Lever and his younger brother James established the company Lever Brothers in 1885. He built an empire out of his soap and cleaning products. He was credited for popular brands as Lifebuoy and Lux.

Born on September 19, 1851 in Lancashire, England, Lever was first exposed to business through his father’s grocery business. After acquiring sufficient knowledge in business, Lever founded Lever Brothers, which became the first soap manufacturer to use vegetable oils in producing soap. Lever had keen business acumen and great marketing practices.

Lever’s first business expansion project was the 56-acre land at Cheshire which he purchased in 1887. The site was known as Port Sunlight which became a model village. Port Sunlight became the community of Lever’s employees. Lever believed that when the workers are enjoying a decent living condition, they end up happy and healthy. While at Port Sunlight, employees are required to participate in all activities.

While his soap business was growing, Lever had to deal with competition. His closest rival was Andrew Pears’ A & F Pears. Pears bought John Everett Millais’ painting “Bubbles” to promote his soap. On his part, Lever also purchased William Powell Frith’s “The New Frock” to advertise Sunlight soap.

In 1906, Lever and other soap manufacturers formed a monopoly soap trust. For Lever, organizations such as this will benefit the manufacturers and the consumers through economies of scale in procurement and marketing. However, anti-trust protests threatened to boycott trust brands following the President Roosevelt’s trust-busting policies and the hostility of the press who are opposed to the scheme such as Britain’s Daily Mail. Because of the boycotts, Lever’s loss was estimated at more than half a million. Later, Lever abandoned the scheme.

Lever was labeled a racist after he enforced the system called “travail forcé” or forced labor in Belgian Congo in 1911. His paternalistic approaches were well documented by author Jules Marchal. Marchal stated in his book Lord Leverhulme’s Ghosts: Colonial Exploitation in the Congo that "Leverhulme set up a private kingdom reliant on the horrific Belgian system of forced labor, a program that reduced the population of Congo by half and accounted for more deaths than the Nazi holocaust." Forced labor continued in Congo until its independence in 1960.

In politics, Lever’s highest elective position was Mayor of his hometown, Bolton. Although he was not a councilor, the council voted to give him the position to honor a “Notable son of the Town.” In 1917, Lever was High Sheriff of Lancashire and was promoted to viscountcy in November 1922.