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The Pritt brand is part of the Henkel Group, which was started by the 28-year-old Fritz Henkel and his two partners in Aachen, Germany on September 26^th 1876. Its first product, was not a glue but a washing powder — one of the first to be sold in packets rather than loose.

Henkel has seen significant growth over the years and the company now employs 48,000 people worldwide and its headquarters are in Dusseldorf, Germany. The proportion of the workforce employed outside Germany is about 75%, making it one of the country’s most international companies.

The group operates in four business sectors: Homecare, Personalcare, Consumer and Craftsmen Adhesives and Technologies. Through its adhesives business sector, Henkel develops, produces and markets adhesives for use in the home and office as well as for craftsmen. It is the largest manufacturer of adhesives in the world, with sales of €9.4 billion in 2003. It supplies more than 3,000 different adhesives and sealants — by far the broadest product portfolio in this market.

Alongside Pritt, Henkel offers an extensive range of product brands for the household, office, do-it-yourself home improvement and Trade markets. Its other brands include the household names UniBond Loctite, Solvite, Sellotape and Copydex. For professional craftsmen it provides adhesives and sealants for construction, flooring, roofing, decorating, renovation and home furniture, to name a few.

The company invented the glue stick in 1969, basing its revolutionary design on the lipstick tube. The idea was to create solid glue that could do everything a liquid adhesive could, contained in a user-friendly, twist-open tube. Advertised as ‘the non-sticky, sticky stuff’ — a phrase that still pops into the minds of successive generations whenever the brand is mentioned — Pritt quickly found its way into the hands of the nation’s children. With its no mess, no fuss application and its obvious utility for scrapbooks, photo albums and collages, Pritt stick soon became part of everyday language. In 2003, Pritt celebrated its 30^th anniversary in the UK.