The Tate & Lyle sugar refinery in Silvertown remains one of the last major industrial landmarks on the north bank of the Thames. Established in 1878, the refinery was once the world’s largest sugar processing plant and continues operations today under the ASR Group, producing the famous Lyle’s Golden Syrup from its historic brick and steel complex.

The building’s layered architecture—Edwardian masonry below, modern extensions above—reflects more than a century of adaptation to changing technologies and ownership. Despite the surrounding redevelopment of London’s Royal Docks into residential and commercial districts, this factory endures as a functioning reminder of the capital’s industrial heritage. The refinery’s green cat logo and “Out of the Strong Came Forth Sweetness” slogan have become enduring icons of British branding and trade history.