Gray, MacKenzie and Co Ltd , general merchants and agents

Gray, Dawes and Company, London agents of the British India Steam Navigation Company Limited, established Gray, MacKenzie and Company as a partnership in Basra, Iraq, in 1869. In common with its associated firm, Gray, Paul and Company (launched by Gray, Dawes in Bushire, Persia, in 1865), Gray, MacKenzie and Company acted as shipping agent for British India steamers plying between India, the Gulf ports and Europe. In fact, the two partnerships acted as one company, maintaining one set of accounts and a close correspondence.

Their business quickly expanded into the import of British and Indian goods (including cotton, coffee, guns and rice) and the export of silk, wood, specie, oilseeds and, especially, dates. They also operated as insurance agents, lighterage contractors and ship repairers. From the 1860s onwards, branches of Gray, Paul and Company opened at Lingah, Bander Abbas (both in Persia) and Bahrein, while Gray, MacKenzie and Company established an off-shoot at Mohammerah (modern Khorramshahr) in Iraq.

In 1920, it was decided to continue more closely earlier cooperation with the shipping agents Lynch Brothers Limited, by combining the resources of all three firms (Gray, MacKenzie and Company, Gray, Paul and Company, and Lynch Brothers Limited) as the Mesopotamia Persia Corporation Limited. Earlier joint activity had included the formation of the Persian Transport Company to operate a concession on the River Karun in Persia and proposals to launch the Ottoman River Navigation Company on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq. The new corporation took over the entire operations of Lynch Brothers Limited and secured a monopoly of navigation rights on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers from the Imperial Ottoman government.

Mutual cooperation ended in 1936 when the component firms reverted to their separate identities. Gray, MacKenzie and Company and Gray, Paul and Company were thereupon transformed into one limited liability company registered in Britain: Gray, MacKenzie and Company Limited.The new firm increased the number of its branches and its dealings in local produce and mail. It was also heavily involved in the expanding oil industry of the region. An appreciation at this time that existing dock facilities were inadaquate prompted the establishment of 2 subsidiaries: Busreh Slipway Company Limited and Bahrein Slipway Company Limited.

In July 1957, in the period of company restructuring engineered by the third Earl Inchcape prior to the launch of Inchcape and Company Limited (see the Inchcape Group introductory note in CLC/B/123), Gray, Dawes and Company Limited increased its shareholding in the firm to 50.42%. Gray, MacKenzie developed as an important port manager and operator in the Gulf into the 1970s, providing technical engineering services for oil field supply bases.

In London, the firm shared the offices of Gray, Dawes and Company: 122 Leadenhall Street (1936-61) and 40 St. Mary Axe (1961-88).