Wittington Investments Limited is the name of two privately owned

holding companies A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own stock of other companies ...

, one based in Britain, the other in Canada. Both companies are controlled by the

Weston family The Weston family is a prominent family of businesspeople that was founded in Canada and eventually developed global business interests, primarily in the food and retail sectors. The family operations began with the purchase of a bakery in 1884 b ...

. Through these holding companies, the Weston family control some of the biggest names in food and retail on both sides of the Atlantic, including

Loblaws Loblaws Inc. is a Canadian supermarket chain with stores located in the province of Ontario, and in Alberta and British Columbia under the Loblaws CityMarket banner. Headquartered in Brampton, Ontario, Loblaws is a subsidiary of Loblaw Companie ...

and

Associated British Foods Associated British Foods plc (ABF) is a British multinational food processing and retailing company headquartered in London, England. Its ingredients division is the world's second-largest producer of both sugar and baker's yeast and a major pr ...

British business

The British business was incorporated in 1941 and is based in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England. The company is 79.2% owned by the

Garfield Weston Foundation The Garfield Weston Foundation is a grant-giving charity based in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1958 by Canadian businessman W. Garfield Weston (1898–1978), who during his lifetime contributed to numerous humanitarian causes, bo ...

, one of the United Kingdom's largest grant-making trusts, which was established in 1958 by Canadian businessman

W. Garfield Weston Willard Garfield Weston (26 February 189822 October 1978) was a Canadian businessman and philanthropist who was a member of the prominent Weston family. He led George Weston Limited and its various subsidiaries and associated companies, includi ...

(1898–1978), and 20.8% owned by members of the prominent

. As of 5 April 2008, the trustees of the Garfield Weston Foundation valued their 79.2% stake in Wittington Investments at £3.62 billion. Wittington Investments owns 54.5% of

, one of the largest food companies in the world and the parent company of

Primark Primark Limited (; trading as Penneys in Ireland) is an Irish multinational fashion retailer with headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with outlets across Europe and in the United States. The original ''Penneys'' brand is not used outside of Irel ...

, the largest discount clothing chain in the UK and Ireland. Associated British Foods also owns

British Sugar British Sugar plc is a subsidiary of Associated British Foods and the sole British producer of sugar from sugar beet, as well as medicinal cannabis. History Early history The company was formed as the British Sugar Corporation in 1936, wh ...

, processor of the entire UK beet crop and producer of half the UK consumption of sugar. Further assets include ownership of the British department store

Fortnum & Mason Fortnum & Mason plc (colloquially often shortened to just Fortnum's) is an Luxury goods, upmarket department store in London, England. The main store is located at 181 Piccadilly in the St James's area of London, where it was established in 1707 ...

, as well as

Heal's Heal's (originally Heal & Son) is a British furniture and Home decor retailer, homeware retail company comprising seven stores, selling a range of furniture, lighting and home accessories based in London, England. The business was started in 1 ...

, a chain of homeware and furnishing stores in the UK.

Canadian business

"Wittington Investments, Limited" was founded by W. Garfield Weston in 1952 and is based in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. The company is the majority shareholder in the North American holding company

George Weston Limited George Weston Limited, often referred to as Weston or Weston's, is a Canadian holding company. Founded by George Weston in 1882, the company today consists of the Choice Properties real estate investment trust and Loblaw Companies Limited, C ...

, owner of Choice Properties

real estate investment trust A real estate investment trust (REIT, pronounced "reet") is a company that owns, and in most cases operates, income-producing real estate. REITs own many types of real estate, including office and apartment buildings, studios, warehouses, hos ...

controlling shareholder A controlling interest is an ownership interest in a corporation with enough voting stock shares to prevail in any stockholders' motion. A majority of voting shares (over 50%) is always a controlling interest. When a party holds less than the majo ...

Loblaw Companies Limited Loblaw Companies Limited is a Canadian retailer encompassing corporate and franchise supermarkets operating under 22 regional and market-segment banners (including Loblaws), as well as pharmacies, banking and apparel. Loblaw operates a private ...

, Canada's largest supermarket retailer and its in house retail brands including

President's Choice President's Choice (Canadian French, French: le Choix du Président) or PC is a line of grocery products and services offered by the Canada-based Loblaw Companies, Loblaw Companies Ltd. History President's Blend The first President's Ch ...

No Name No Name or Noname may refer to: Geography *No Name, Colorado * No Name Key, an island among the Florida Keys * No Name Tunnel, located near the same named town in Colorado Art, entertainment, and media *No-Name (character), a fictional character i ...

and

Joe Fresh Joe Fresh is a Canadian fashion brand and retail chain created by designer Joe Mimran for Canadian food distributor Loblaw Companies, Loblaw Companies Limited. It was formed in 2006. The label includes adult and children's wear, shoes, handbags, ...

. In 1963, Wittington Investments subsidiary, DICOA, (Diversified Companies of America) purchased the controlling share in Howardsgate Holdings, owners of

Fine Fare Fine Fare was a chain of supermarkets which operated in the United Kingdom from 1951 until 1988. During the 1960s the company was the largest operator of supermarkets in Europe. Their Yellow Pack budget private label, own-label range, introduce ...

supermarkets and it's various grocery brands, from

for $11.7 million after the business lost $3.7 million. Howardsgate Holdings was sold in 1966 to another subsidiary

, before being sold back to

. In December 2020, the Weston family announced that Galen Weston Jr. had succeeded his father (

Galen Weston Willard Gordon Galen Weston (October 29, 1940April 12, 2021) was a British-Canadian billionaire businessman and Chairman Emeritus of George Weston Limited, a Canadian food processing and distribution company. Weston and his family, with an esti ...

Sr.) as the

of Wittington Investments, Limited. This company was the owner of the

Selfridges Group Selfridges Group is a holding company of European department stores, itself owned by the Thai conglomerate Central Group and the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund. It operates the full-line stores Arnotts and Brown Thomas in Ireland, De Bijen ...

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store mad ...

chains, including

Selfridges Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of upmarket department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge in 1908. The historic Daniel Burnham-designed Self ...

in the UK,

Brown Thomas Brown Thomas & Company Limited is a chain of five upmarket department stores in Ireland, with two located in Dublin, and one each in Cork, Galway, and Limerick. Together with Dublin's Arnotts department store, it is owned by the Selfridges G ...

and

Arnotts Arnotts can refer to; * Arnott's Group, an Australian biscuit and salted snack food company * Arnotts (Ireland), a department store in Dublin, Ireland * Arnotts (Scotland) Arnotts was a department store in Glasgow, Scotland. It became part of ...

in Ireland, and

De Bijenkorf (; literally, "the beehive") is a chain of high-end department stores in the Netherlands, with its flagship store on Dam Square in Amsterdam. The chain is owned by Selfridges Group, owner also of Britain's Selfridges and Ireland's Bro ...

in the Netherlands. In December 2021, it was reported that the majority of the Selfridges Group's assets were being sold for around £4 billion to a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

between Thai conglomerate

Central Group Central Group is a Thai multinational conglomerate founded by Tiang and Samrit Chirathivat in 1947, and still privately owned by the Chirathivat family . Its publicly-traded subsidiaries include Central Retail, Central Pattana (commercial re ...

and Austrian firm

Signa Holding Signa Holding GmbH (stylized SIGNA) is Austria's largest privately owned real estate company. Signa Holding GmbH announced insolvency proceedings at the end of November 2023. The company will apply for self-administration restructuring proceed ...

. In 2024, Wittington Invesments became a

Limited Partner A limited partnership (LP) is a type of partnership with general partners, who have a right to manage the business, and limited partners, who have no right to manage the business but have only limited liability for its debts. Limited partnership ...

in Radical Ventures first $800-million USD growth fund.

References

External links

Website of Wittington Investments Limited
(British company)
Webpage of Wittington Investments, Limited
(Canadian company)
2009 report of the Garfield Weston Foundation
(see page 15 for details of the ownership and assets of Wittington Investments Limited) {{Associated British Foods Companies based in the City of Westminster Privately held companies based in London Privately held companies of England Privately held companies of the United Kingdom Investment companies of the United Kingdom Family-owned companies of the United Kingdom Weston family Fortnum & Mason Privately held companies of Canada Investment companies of Canada Family-owned companies of Canada