Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
The firm of George G Sandeman, Sons and Company Limited, wine shippers and cotton merchants, was established in London in 1790 by George Sandeman (1765-1841). From the beginning he specialised in wines from the Iberian Peninsula, notably port and sherry. At first Sandeman ran the business from Tom's Coffee House in Birchin Lane, later renting an office at 24 Old Jewry. In 1805 he took a lease of 20 St Swithin's Lane for use as offices and wine vaults. This was to remain the firm's headquarters until 1969 when it moved to 37 Albert Embankment. In 1984, the firm moved to 17 Dacre Street.
George Sandeman was early in partnership with his elder brother who ran the business in Scotland. This partnership had dissolved by 1798, and after 1800 George Sandeman took a succession of partners from outside the family. Between 1800 and 1856, the firm was variously styled as Sandeman Robinson and Company, George Sandeman and Company, George Sandeman Gooden and Company, George Sandeman Gooden and Forster Limited, and Sandeman Forster and Company. The business expanded to include insurance and the export of British linen and cotton goods to the West Indies, Central America and Mexico.
George Sandeman was succeeded on his death in 1841 by his nephew, George Glas Sandeman, from whom all subseqent heads of the company descended. The firm became a private limited company in 1902, under the style of George Sandeman Sons and Company Limited. It became a public company in 1952.