George Steuarts turns 'Gorgeous Steuart'
by Lalin FERNANDOPULLE
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The
Grinlinton
Chair was presented
to the Chairman
of George Steuarts,
Sir Thomas
Villiers, in 1935 by
the European staff
of the Company to
mark the
centenary year. |
 George Steuarts will spread its wings overseas and will be
affectionately referred to as 'Gorgeous Steuart', a truly mutinational
conglomerate, said George Steuarts Group Chairman, J.M. Wimalagooneratne
in an interview with the Sunday Observer Business and Finance which will
carry a series of articles on oldest corporates in Sri Lanka.
Wimalagooneratne who will relinquish services at the end of this
month, said the company reached many milestones due to the conviction
and commitment of employees who render a yeoman service to the
organisation.
"The spirit of sharing and caring has helped the organisation to
reach great heights during its long and cherished history", he said.
The company is proud of its tumultous and triumphant history.
It is recorded that up to 1975, of every six pounds of tea produced
in Sri Lanka, one pound was manufactured by George Steuarts.
The company ventured overseas with the setting up of George Steuarts
Phillipines in 1990, in Manila.
George Steuarts has won many accolades and has excelled in its
business.
The company clinched the Most Outstanding Exporter for year 2010-Gold
award at the National Chamber of Exporters business excellence awards
conducted recntly
The Company set up the Staff Welfare Trust at its 170 anniversary to
look into the welfare of its present and past employees. Supporting
educational needs of siblings is a major feature of the organisation
George Steuarts turned 175 last year, making it the oldest mercantile
establishment in the country, founded by Capt. James Steuart - son of a
respected shipowner in the UK.
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| J.M. Wimalagooneratne |
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Handwritten notes of James
Steuart |
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| George Steuart |
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| James Steuart |
In 1835, James Steuart, with his brothers Joseph and George, set
themselves up in Ceylon as Merchant Bankers operating on a modest scale.
The firm gradually grew from its original business into an Agency
House. There was a clear nexus between the original merchant banking and
the Company's new operations as an Agency House. Soon George Steuart &
Co. Ltd. made Ceylon a large-scale producer of coffee.
The Company is highly diversified entity today with businesses
spanning into 12 sectors which comprises export of tea, pharmaceuticals,
travel and ticketing, airline representation (General Sales Agent for
airlines), property development, assembly of telephones and other
electronic products, freight forwarding, insurance and higher education.
Not the least of them is its venture into the recruitment of Sri
Lankan professionals for reputed principals overseas which are some of
the hallmark sectors. The vision of the company is to safeguard the
impeccable reputation built over the years, whilst making life
meaningful to all stakeholders as a responsible corporate entity.
Trials and tribulations were not strange to the organisation which
took root on fertile ground. The coffee blight of the 1870s wiped out
Ceylon's coffee production altogether, but proved to be no more than a
temporary setback for the Company.
In the ensuing decade, George Steuarts bounced back into the
mainstream of business as tea replaced coffee as the country's leading
export.
The Company overcame yet another severe setback, nearly a hundred
years later when, in 1975, the overnight nationalisation of plantations
put it out of business at a time when it was managing the largest
acreage of tea plantations in the island.
George Steuart & Co. Ltd. was incorporated and became a Limited
Liability Company in 1954. The Head Office building, owned by the
Company, was developed to make way for a new high-rise building -
Steuart House - in the heart of the Colombo's business and financial
district.
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