AN ADVERTISING robot, a stained-glass window and the tin of cocoa that was with Scott of the Antarctic when he died.

These are only a few of the items which form part of a new Nestlé UK archive created at the company’s factory complex in York.

The state-of-the-art facility has been built to preserve documents, films, artefacts and artworks from all of Nestlé’s UK sites, with climate and humidity controls to preserve its contents, and specially fitted lights designed to filter out harmful UV rays.

A spokesman said highlights of the archive included a collection of more than 300 Nestlé films that were recently uncovered in a wall cavity at the company’s base in Croydon, the original pre-war artwork for the classic Black Magic advertising campaigns, a rare collection of hundreds of 1920s chocolate moulds and thousands of photographs, magazines, catalogues and other documents.

The famous stained-glass window comes from the Haxby Road site’s oldest office, while the robot dates back to an advertising campaign from the 1920s.

The archive is the brainchild of Nestlé UK archivist Alex Hutchinson, and its launch was attended by Giles Naish, who works at Nestlé in York and is the great-great-grandson of Joseph Rowntree. A spokesman said that many of the items had been exhibited publicly before and this would continue and, after digitising more than 37,000 photographs and more than 100 hours of film, it intended to provide an online offering in future.

“We welcome requests from museums and researchers for access to our archive.” He said Nestlé would be discussing with Continuum how its proposed new visitor attraction in Kings Square, York, The Sweet History Of York, which is set to tell the story of the science and manufacturing of confectionery in the city, might have access to the archive material.

The archive was officially opened by Nestlé UK chief executive and chairman Paul Grimwood alongside Mr Naish.

Mr Grimwood said the archive demonstrated how serious Nestlé UK was about preserving and promoting its history in the UK.