The company was founded in 1954 and launched by Southalls of Birmingham. They were based on a design created with Dr. Judith Esser-Mittag, a female gynaecologist and expand widthways for improved comfort and better protection. Initially two absorbencies were available, Regular and Super, for differing menstrual flows.
In 1958, Southalls was acquired by Smith & Nephew (S&N) and incorporated into their Sanitary Protection Division, alongside Arthur Berton Ltd, another S&N acquisition. These acquisitions positioned S&N as the UK market leaders in sanitary towels, with the Dr. White's and Lilia brands second with Lil-lets.
In 1994, Lil-lets applicator tampons were launched.
In 2000, a management buyout (MBO) by Accantia (now Simple) took ownership of the Lil-lets brand.
In 2001, Lil-lets launched the Super plus Extra, a high absorbency product (classified as 5 droplets by AHPMA, compared to Regular at 2 droplets, Super at 3 and Super Plus at 4). This was a UK first, offering consumers with a heavy flow a specialist product.
In 2002, Lil-lets launch "Mixed Packs", with a range of absorbencies in each pack, allowing consumers to buy one pack in order to use a different absorbency for the differing flow rates within a period (often lighter at the start and finish of the period). Solutions, a range of intimate care products is also launched, featuring wipes, a cleansing mousse and a heat soother patch to warm the tummy to help with period pain.
In 2005, Lil-lets launched pantyliners.
20 December 2006, Lil-lets was sold to Electra Private Equity, and the Lil-lets Group of companies was formed, creating a standalone Feminine Hygiene business.[1]
In 2007, Lil-lets launched a range of Sanitary Pads, making Lil-lets the only brand to cross all sectors of the feminine hygiene market – tampons, pads, pantyliners and intimate care.
In 2008, Lil-lets launched a compact applicator range in direct competition to the market leader Tampax, followed in 2009 by a video advertising campaign that showed the key difference between the two brands. Lil-lets tampons expand widthways, with Tampax tampons expanding along their length.
In 2012, Electra invested another £7 million equity.[2]
In November 2013, Electra sold Lil-lets to Premier FMCG (Pty) Limited, a South African company.[3][4][5]
United Kingdom