Gallaher Group, referred as Gallaher's Tobacco, or simply Gallaher's, was a
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
-based
multinational tobacco company which traded on the
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...
and was a constituent of the
FTSE 100 Index
The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is the United Kingdom's best-known stock market index of the 100 most highly capitalised blue chips listed on ...
, prior to its acquisition by American Tobacco in 1974. In April 2007, it was acquired by
Japan Tobacco
The (JT) is a Japanese diversified tobacco company and parent company to Japan Tobacco International, one of the three largest international Big Tobacco product manufacturers in the world. It was established in 1985 as a that inherited the ri ...
. Japan Tobacco trades in the United Kingdom as Gallaher Ltd.
History
The business was founded in 1857 by
Tom Gallaher in
Londonderry,
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
. Gallaher moved premises to Hercules Street in 1863. In 1881, the premises moved to York Street,
North Belfast. By 1896, Gallaher had opened the largest tobacco factory in the world in
Belfast
Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
, known as Gallagher's Tobacco Factory. The business was incorporated on 28 March 1896 to "carry on in all their branches the businesses of tobacco, cigar, cigarettes and snuff manufacture".
Formerly manufacturing 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 ...
and
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
, Gallaher moved production to Belfast (cigarettes) and Wales (cigars) in the early 20th century.
Gallaher went on to acquire a number of rival companies including J. A. Pattreiouex (1937), J. R. Freeman (1947),
Cope Bros & Co (1952) and
Benson & Hedges (1955).
In 1962, Gallaher acquired J Wix & Co., the British subsidiary of American Tobacco, in exchange for Gallaher shares. As a result,
American Tobacco owned 13% of Gallaher Ltd. In July 1968, American Tobacco increased its ownership to 28%. American continued to increase its ownership for several years and by October 1974 Gallaher Ltd had become a 100%-owned subsidiary of
American Brands
Fortune Brands was a holding company founded in 1969 as American Brands, renamed in 1997 and split apart in 2011. The corporate headquarters was in Deerfield, Illinois, in the United States. The company had diversified product lines. It announce ...
(as American Tobacco was now known).
Gallaher held a
Royal Warrant of Appointment
Royal warrants of appointment have been issued for centuries to tradespeople who supply goods or services to a royal court or certain royal personages. The royal warrant enables the supplier to advertise the fact that they supply to the issuer of t ...
for 122 years, until the warrant was revoked in 1999 by
Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
. Her son, the
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...
' rigorous anti-smoking campaigning is thought to have been a major influence behind that decision. Gallaher was allowed one year to remove the
Royal Coat of Arms from its brands bearing the mark on their packaging.
On 4 August 2000 Gallaher completed the acquisition of
Liggett Ducat, Russia's number one cigarette brand. In January 2002, Gallaher became the 100% owner of Austria's former nationalised biggest tobacco-company Austria Tabak.
In 2002 US tobacco firm
Reynolds formed Reynolds-Gallaher International to access cigarette sales in most countries in the European Union. The agreement was scheduled to run through 2012 but in May 2007, as a result of the acquisition of Gallaher Group by Japan Tobacco, it was announced that this joint-venture would cease in November 2007.
Japan Tobacco became the sole owner of the Gallaher Group on 18 April 2007, in the largest ever foreign acquisition in Japanese history.
The closure of the former J. R. Freeman's factory in
Cardiff
Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...
was announced in September 2007, with all work scheduled to move to the
Ballymena
Ballymena ( ; from , meaning 'the middle townland') is a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 31,205 people at the 2021 United Kingdom census, making it the List of localities in Northern Ireland by population, seven ...
factory by September 2009.
184 tobacco jobs go at city plant
BBC Wales – 27 September 2007
In 2015, JTI Gallaher announced the closure of their Ballymena operations with all work due to re-locate to Eastern Europe in a cost saving measure by 2017. This resulted in the loss of over 1000 jobs in the town and the cessation of tobacco production in Ireland by Gallaher after more than 100 years.
Operations
Until acquisition by Japan Tobacco, Gallaher operated primarily in the United Kingdom and continental Europe, with smaller operations in Central Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Gallaher was the third largest of the three major British tobacco groups after British American Tobacco
British American Tobacco p.l.c. (BAT) is a British multinational company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, tobacco and other nicotine products including electronic cigarettes. The company, established in 1902, is headquartered in London, E ...
and Imperial Tobacco.
Gallaher-owned brands included Benson & Hedges (with Philip Morris International, British American Tobacco, and Japan Tobacco), Silk Cut, Sterling, Mayfair
Mayfair is an area of Westminster, London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts ...
, Crystal, Nil, Kensitas Club, Senior Service, Dos Hermanos, Gold Seal, Amber Leaf, Sobranie, Hamlet Cigars, Logic ( vape) and Nordic Spirit (nicotine pouch).
In the UK, Japan Tobacco International maintains a national distribution centre in Crewe
Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the parish had a population of 55,318 and the built-up area had a population of 74,120. ...
and Business Service Centre in Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
.
References
External links
*
* https://www.jti.com/europe/united-kingdom
{{Authority control
Companies established in 1857
Tobacco companies of the United Kingdom
Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange
Companies based in Surrey
Japan Tobacco
1857 establishments in Ireland
2007 mergers and acquisitions