John Holt plc is a Nigerian

conglomerate Conglomerate or conglomeration may refer to: * Conglomerate (company) * Conglomerate (geology) * Conglomerate (mathematics) In popular culture: * The Conglomerate (American group), a production crew and musical group founded by Busta Rhymes ** ...

that participates in many areas of the economy. The Nigerian company is a subsidiary of John Holt & Co. (Liverpool) Ltd, a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

company. A minority of the shares are traded on the

Nigerian Stock Exchange The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) now Nigerian Exchange Group is a Nigerian stock exchange founded in 1961 in Lagos. As of November 2019, it has a total of 161 listed companies, with 8 domestic companies on the premium board, 144 companies on the ...

History

Origins

The company traces its origins to 1862 when John Holt, 20 years old at the time, with £27 in his pocket, sailed from

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

to take up an appointment as a shop assistant in a

grocery store A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, a ...

in Fernando Po (now part of

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...

). Five years later, he bought out his employer, and he was joined by his brother Jonathan. In 1868, Jonathan bought a schooner, which enabled the brothers to open more trading posts in West Africa. In 1874 the brothers opened an office in Liverpool. In 1881, John entered the

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced fr ...

trade. In 1884, the brothers formed a partnership, John Holt and Company, to consolidate their business interests. Subsequently John entered into new partnerships, including a venture in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...

in Nigeria in 1887.

The Liverpool company

In 1897, the partnerships were absorbed into a new limited company, John Holt & Co. (Liverpool) Ltd. The company built up an extensive produce trade, in which palm oil, palm kernels,

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...

and

cocoa Cocoa may refer to: Chocolate * Chocolate * ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree * Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao'' * Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter an ...

were exported from Nigeria to England. Imports included textiles from

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

and bicycles from

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

. A fleet of ships operated a fortnightly service from

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali ...

and the Company also had its own fleet of river craft. Apart from produce and merchandise, these river craft also carried cash. Where banks did not exist, John Holt had strong rooms. Even after banks were established, many Nigerians preferred to deposit their cash with John Holt. In 1970, the company was taken over by

Lonrho Lonrho is a London-based conglomerate that was established in 1998 as Lonrho Africa plc. It is engaged in multiple business sectors in Africa, mainly agribusiness, infrastructure, transport, hospitality and support services. History Lonrho ...

. In 2001, Lonrho sold the company to a management-led group of investors.

The Nigerian company

In 1961, the Liverpool company formed a locally incorporated subsidiary in Nigeria, John Holt Limited, to hold its Nigerian interests. It became a public company and was quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in May 1974.

The company today

The company's businesses in Nigeria include the assembly and distribution of power generators, leasing, distribution of fire-fighting equipment, logistics, boat building and fabrication of industrial and agricultural equipment. The parent company in Liverpool is involved in the procurement and finance of exports.John Holt plc website: Liverpool
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References

External links

{{Portal, England, Nigeria
John Holt corporate websiteGoogle Finance listing for John Holt
Companies based in Lagos Companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange History of Nigeria Companies based in Liverpool Nigerian subsidiaries of foreign companies