George Steuart Group

The George Steuart Group of Companies (George Steuarts) is Sri Lanka’s oldest mercantile establishment, having been established in 1835 during British occupation of Ceylon. It is one of the oldest mercantile entities in the world, with a recorded history dating back to the early 19th century.[1][2]

George Steuart Group
Privately held
Industryvarious
Headquarters
Colombo
,
Sri Lanka
Key people
Dilith Jayaweera - Chairman
Products
  • tea
  • health
  • travel
  • aviation
  • recruitment
WebsiteOfficial Website

Having begun operations as a merchant banker and then a produce broker, George Steuarts today includes businesses engaged in tea, exports, health, leisure, travel, real estate, telecommunications, shipping, insurance, recruitment and higher education.

History

The Company traces its origins to Captain James Steuart (1790-1870), a British sea captain, who sailed the southern seas in the early 1800s and settled in Ceylon in 1818. Seeing the commercial potential of the island, Captain Steuart set himself up as merchant and banker. Steuart was subsequently appointed "Master Attendant of the Roads of Colombo", a position which precluded him from continuing his commercial activities.[3][4] As a result he invited his younger brother George (1808-1896),[5] to take over the business, which in 1835 resulted in the establishment of George Steuart and Company.[6][7][8]

In the late 1830s and early 1840s Ceylon became a major producer of coffee and the company became a large scale exporter of the commodity. In 1863 John Lewis Gordon took over the company.[9] From 1869 Ceylon's coffee industry was decimated by coffee rust that afflicted its plantations; George Steuart was amongst the pioneers that converted their export interests to tea, supporting an industry that would soon become synonymous with Ceylon.[10][11][12]

George Steuart 1808 - 1896
James Steuart 1790 - 1870

The descendants of the Steuart Brothers incorporated George Steuart & Co in 1954,[13] building a high-rise office building "Steuart House" at 14 Queen Street, Colombo fort, which became the company headquarters.[3][14]

In 1975, the Sri Lankan government launched a nationalisation programme of privately held tea plantations; which led to the take-over of 90% of the group's holdings, the largest acreage of tea plantations at the time.[15] As a result the company proceeded on a path of diversification, expanding into textile production, automotive spare parts, gem exports, telecommunications and jewellery manufacturing, thereby reducing its exposure to any single industry.[16] Over the next few decades, the Group expanded its footprint in several industries; as of 2014, major subsidiaries of George Steuarts included GS Health, GS Teas, GS Travel, GS Aviation, GS Finance, GS Solutions, GS Optimize, GS Insurance Brokers and GS Recruitment.

In September 2011 Nimal Perera and Dilith Jayaweera, through his investment company, Divasa Equity Ltd., acquired over 40% of George Steuarts, in a deal worth approximately Rs 1 billion. Divasa subsequently in October increased their stake in the company to a controlling 51% and Perera's holdings increased to 30%.[2] A few months later, Nimal Perera exited George Steuarts, selling his stake to Jayaweera's Divasa Equity.

gollark: Probably some weird text direction/unicode hack?
gollark: I poked it in inspect element, and weirdly enough it shows up with `(edited)` after it.
gollark: HAX!
gollark: Also the service got nationalized or something and constantly slightly increases in cost.
gollark: Where I live in the UK train service... exists... but it seems to actually be about as fast as going by car on the same trip, if not slower.

References
  1. Leonard, Elmo (7 January 2007). "George Steuarts unveils new logo". Sunday Observer. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
  2. "Dilith, Nimal strike it big!". Daily Financial Times. 12 September 2011. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  3. MacMillan, Allister (1928). Seaports of India and Ceylon: Historical and Descriptive, Commercial and Industrial, Facts, Figures, & Resources. W. H. & L. Collingridge. p. 470. ISBN 9788120619951.
  4. Mendis, G. C. (1952). Ceylon Under the British. Asian Educational Services. p. 82. ISBN 9788120619302.
  5. De Silva, Rajpal Kumar (1998). 19th century newspaper engravings of Ceylon-Sri Lanka: accompanied by original texts with notes and comments. Serendib Publications. p. 164. ISBN 9780951071021.
  6. "Sri Lanka Anglo-Burgher Genealog". rootsweb.ancestry.com. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  7. "George Steuarts marks 175 years". Daily News. 29 September 2010. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
  8. Weerasooria, N. E. Ceylon and Her People, Volume 3. Ceylon Printers Limited (Lake House Investments). p. 84.
  9. Devine, T. M; McCarthy, Angela, eds. (2016). The Scottish Experience in Asia: c.1700 to the Present: Settlers and Sojourners. Springer. p. 177. ISBN 9783319430744.
  10. Forrest, Denys Mostyn (1967). A Hundred Years of Ceylon Tea: 1867-1967. Chatto & Windus. pp. 131–132.
  11. Paul, E. Jaiwant (2005). The Story of Tea. Roli Books Private Limited. ISBN 9789351940388.
  12. Hulugalle, H. A. J. (1965). Centenary Volume of the Colombo Municipal Council: 1865-1965. Colombo Municipal Council. p. 135.
  13. "Report of the Commission of Inquiry on the Agency Houses and Banking Firms". Parliament of Sri Lanka. 1975: 19. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  14. Wright, Arnold (Ed) (1907). Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon: Its History, People, Commerce, Industries, and Resources. Asian Educational Services. p. 454. ISBN 9788120613355.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  15. Roberts, Michael (2017). Ceylon Tea: The Trade That Mada A Nation. Colombo Tea Traders' Association.
  16. "George Steuarts: Lanka's oldest business looking to the future". Sunday Times. 28 September 2010. Archived from the original on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2016.

Further reading
  • Peires, Tony (2003). George Steuart & Co. Ltd., 1952-1973: a Personal Odyssey. Wasala Publications. ISBN 9789558333020.
  • Abhayaratne, Manel (1985). The George Steuart Story. Colombo.
  • James Steuart; Villiers, Thomas Lister; John, Reginald (1935). Recollections Personal and Official of James Steuart, 1817-1866: With a Short History of the Firm of George Steuart & Co., Colombo, 1835-1935.
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