Gerrard and National Ltd , discount bankers National Discount Co Ltd , discount bankers Gerrard and National Discount Co Ltd , discount bankers

Gerrard and National Ltd , discount bankers National Discount Co Ltd , discount bankers Gerrard and National Discount Co Ltd , discount bankers

This discount house was established in 1870 as Gerrard and Middleton, under the leadership of William Duff Gerrard. It was renamed Gerrard and Company in 1874 and Gerrard and Reid in 1892 following the admission to the partnership of Sandeman Reid, son of a Northumberland engineer. The business operated on a small scale, but it expanded following its merger with Tallack and Company (established 1932) in 1934, a key personality now being John Kellock who joined from Dawnay Day in 1937. In 1946 Edward Clive, another partner, left to form Clive Discount Company Limited.

Prior to the Second World War, Gerrards had been a bill broker, but thereafter it became a fully-fledged discount house. It acquired limited liability in 1948 and in 1958 Minster Trust Limited acquired a substantial interest when capital was increased to £0.5 million. However, Minster soon withdrew and the business was grown under K H Whitaker's management. Capital was increased to over £1 million in 1959 and discount facilities were made available at the Bank of England for the first time. The business was converted to a public company in 1962.

In 1969 Gerrards acquired the City's second largest discount house, National Discount Company Limited, and in 1970 it was renamed Gerrard and National Discount Company Limited. In the 1970s and 1980s the business grew rapidly and diversified away from its original activities; Gerrard and National Plc was formed in 1986. At the time of the deposit of the records, the traditional discount house business was being carried on by Gerrard and National Limited, a subsidiary of the holding company, Gerrard and National Holdings Plc.

The business was based in offices at the following addresses: 14 Union Court, Old Broad Street, 1870-1875; 3 Newman's Court, Cornhill, 1876-1904; 7 Finch Lane, 1905-ca. 1916; 6 Birchin Lane, c 1916-1924; 10 Bell Yard, Gracechurch Street, 1925-1933; 11 Birchin Lane, 1933-1955; 54 Threadneedle Street, 1956-1958; 36 Lombard Street, 1959-1964; 32 Lombard Street, 1965-1987; and 33 Lombard Street, 1988-date.

The National Discount Company Limited was formed in 1856 with a subscribed capital of £200,000. It was the first joint stock company, other than the short-lived Overend Gurney and Company Limited, in a sector dominated by private partnerships. It avoided the worst of the 1866 Overend Gurney Crisis, which claimed many of its competitors, and expanded rapidly in the late 1860s and 70s when it was London's largest house. Following the formation of the Union Discount Company of London Limited, it became the second largest house and held this position until recent times. Cunliffe and Fowler was acquired in 1877. In 1969 Gerrard and Reid Limited acquired the business which ceased trading in 1970. The Gerrard business was then renamed Gerrard and National Discount Company Limited.

The National Discount Company had offices at 25 Birchin Lane (1856-8) and 35 Cornhill (1858-1970).