End of the sweet life that left a lingering flavour of bitterness

The portraits were hung in a gallery at the York plant as a sign of their loyalty and recognition of decades of hard work.

In 2005 – 12 years after the company's takeover by Kraft – the factory closed. As contractors moved in to strip the production lines, which had first begun turning on the site some 80 years earlier, an appeal went out for relatives to claim the photographs of their loved ones. Some came forward, but many were dumped in a skip.

For those who felt betrayed and let down by their American owners, it was a bitter final image to be left with.

Kraft, who this week took over Cadbury, always said the decision to close the York factory was regrettable, but – citing economic circumstances and increased foreign competition – insisted there was no option but to transfer production to newer and cheaper plants in Sweden, Belgium, Poland and Slovakia.

The excuses mattered little to those who had been handed their

redundancy notices and the hundreds of others who had watched Terry's gradual demise.

For them, it wasn't just the end of a company, but the end of York as the country's capital of chocolate making. Following the news that, after four months of dogged resistance, Cadbury has now accepted a 12bn offer from Kraft, there are fears another era may yet come to an end.

"Sadly, it would seem history may be about to repeat itself," says David Meek, who worked at Terry's just as his father, Harold, and grandfather, Henry, had done before him.

"My family's connection with the place went back to even before I was born. My grandfather started at the city centre site in 1882 and when I

got a job with Terry's as an engineer I was working alongside a great uncle and two aunts. But, you know, that wasn't unusual, Terry's was a family affair.

"We used to say we daren't talk about anyone behind their backs as

you'd suddenly discover a cousin or a nephew was listening in.

"I still live in the area and every time I see all those buildings standing empty, I can't help but feel a sense of sadness."

It's easy to draw parallels between what happened in York and what may happen to Cadbury's Bournville plant on the outskirts of Birmingham, but there are crucial differences. At its height, Terry's employed 2,500 workers. Cadbury's current workforce is in the UK and Ireland is more than double that and, unlike the York factory, it already has an established presence in 60 countries.

However, one thing Terry's did share with Cadbury's was its philosophy. It might not have been founded by Quakers, but it was built on the belief that if you look after the staff, they will look after you.

When Sir Francis Terry received a knighthood in 1936, the names of 50 workers were pulled out of a hat to accompany him on his trip to London and, with an active sports and social club, former employers still felt a tie to the factory long after they had received their gold clock. It was that ethos which many felt was lost under Kraft.

"They used to have these great pensioner parties," says David, who had already taken early retirement when the closure was announced.

"I remember one Christmas do when rumours had been flying they were

about to close the place down. The man in charge at the time told everyone it was absolute nonsense. He said their jobs were safe and there was no need to worry. Less than six months later, it was all over. The building was locked up and Terry's was no more."

Takeovers and mergers are often messy businesses as two separate companies attempt to marry their production systems and ways of working. After the Second World War, Forte, Colgate-Palmolive, United Biscuits and Philip Morris all had a go at running Terry's. For the most part the Terry family remained closely involved, but under Kraft, a company still best known for its processed cheese, it began to lose its identity and the familiar Terry's of York stamp was replaced with the simpler and more generic Terry's.

While Gordon Brown has pledged the Government will do "everything it can" to ensure the Cadbury jobs remain in Britain, in truth the matter is out of their hands and with Kraft having to justify the 7bn it has borrowed to finance the detail, cost cutting or strategic restructuring as it's now called seems likely.

"I'm not a finance man, but if one company spends billions buying another they have to find a way to claw it back," says David. "At Terry's the first sign that things were changing was when they got rid of the production of York Fruits and its range of sugared almonds.

"That was when many people realised the writing was on the wall. Suddenly one large department was made redundant and it was only a matter of time before the management turned round and said the factory was too big for the amount it produced.

"It's not just the employees who suffer, it's the people down the line who supply the raw materials, who make the cardboard boxes. It's even the person who runs the corner shop who suddenly finds there is no one popping in to buy their lunch."

At the time of its closure, the York factory was only making its All Gold chocolates and the famous Terry's Chocolate Orange. Cadbury has a far wider range of products, but any attempts to cut corners could well have an adverse effect on sales.

"When we – even now when I talk about Terry's I always use the royal 'we' – made rum truffles, we used rum, not essence of rum or some manufactured flavouring," says David, still fiercely loyal to the company's memory. "There was a big store, which contained all the liqueurs and you had to have special permission to access it.

"We didn't make vast amounts of products, but what we did make was real quality. Of course you can't predict the future, but just before Kraft took over, the business seemed to be doing well, profits were up and we were concentrating on what I suppose was then the luxury end of the market. But quality is expensive and some people only see the bottom line.

"Maybe Cadbury will fare a bit better because of the type and amount it produces, but if investment is cut they may not be able to find a way back."

As details of the takeover became clear, it seemed to many to be another nail in the coffin for the Made in Britain trademark. Even Cadbury's UK chairman admitted jobs cuts are "an inevitability".

"Once this country was renowned for its confectionery, now most people won't even remember Terry's even existed," adds David. "It's sad, but it's not just the chocolate factories. Look at British Steel, look at the car industry. Much of what our economy was once based has been run down or shipped elsewhere."

Today as thousands of Cadbury workers keep their fingers crossed, the Terry's site still remains empty. While plans for a 200m redevelopment under the banner of The Chocolate Works remain in the pipeline, it will be some years before workers return to the Bishopthorpe Road site.

"When Kraft took over there was a lot of optimism," says Van Wilson, the author of The Story of Terry's which was published towards the end of last year. "But straight away things started being run down and promises were broken. Quite recently I went for a look round the old site and there is a very eerie atmosphere to the place

"These grand buildings which were once a testament to hard work and industry are empty and when you stand within their four walls the sense of loss is very real."