'I work at chocolate factory my ancestor founded 130 years ago'

Every KitKat sold in the UK has been made in York since the bar's creation in 1935

Giles Naish says he does not think chocolate is in the blood.

But when he went for a job interview at the confectionery factory in York that his great-great-grandfather Joseph Rowntree helped to establish, he acknowledges he felt a "really nice connection" to the past.

Seventeen years later, Giles is working as innovation and renovation project lead for confectionery at the business, which was taken over by Nestle UK, and says some of his colleagues are only just learning that he is a direct descendent of Rowntree.

"As a child we would drive past the factory and my parents would drop in, as that's where a lot of family worked," he says.

"I never expected to work here myself, but I'm very proud of the connection."

Joseph Rowntree took over the confectionary company from his brother Henry in 1883.

The firm, which was bought by Nestle in 1988, is best known today for creating Fruit Pastilles, Aero bars, Polo mints and KitKats - with the York factory producing more than four million of the chocolate bars a day.

When Joseph Rowntree died his factory in York had about 7,000 employees

Giles, 47, says: "My grandfather worked in advertising for Rowntree's before the war.

"I didn't know a lot about Joseph but now, looking back, I wish I had spoken to my grandfather more about him and about what his relationship was like with Joseph – it would be fascinating to know more."

Despite his links to the business, Giles worked as a buyer for a large retailer before he was approached by recruiters to apply for a role at Nestle.

He says he did not reveal his family history to many of his colleagues.

"I grew up on a farm, so quite a long way from chocolate," he says.

"It's always been important for me to actually prove that I've done it off my own back and there isn't that nepotism.

"I tend to keep it quite quiet."

Men sealing cases of Rowntree's Elect Cocoa at a factory in York in 1893

A series of events was organised earlier in the year to mark the 100 year anniversary of Rowntree's death and his enduring legacy in York.

Giles says he is proud to be working on some of the same sweets that his great-great-grandfather was developing more than a century ago.

"Going back to the 1890s, they were developing the Fruit Pastilles, Fruit Gums - I still manage projects working on those brands," he says.

"I look out of my office window and think that, more than 130 years ago, he was looking out across this same site and manufacturing confectionery."

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