H. Samuel is a mass-market jewellery chain, operating in the

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 ...

and

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 ...

. It is part of the Signet Group of jewellery retailers.

History

In the mid-1800s,

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

and Lewis Samuel ran a well-known clock-making and silversmith business in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. Harriet Samuel (née Wolf), Moses Samuel's daughter-in-law, took over the business and moved it to

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 ...

's Market Street, where she ran the mail-order side, closely followed by branches in

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

and throughout

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. The company registered trademarks for its Acme and Climax watches by 1884. The first H. Samuel retail store opened in Preston in 1890. By the turn of the century, H. Samuel had opened over 10 branches, and by 1914 it had about 50. To accommodate the growing business, the company moved to larger headquarters in Birmingham in 1912. After

the Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising ...

, Harriet's grandsons, Gilbert Edgar and Robert Edgar, took over as chairman and vice chairman. In 1948, the company was listed 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 ...

. Gilbert was appointed a

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

for political and public services, was elected a

Sheriff of the City of London Two Sheriffs of the City of London are elected annually by the members of the City livery companies. Today's Sheriffs have only ceremonial duties, but the historical officeholders held important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ...

, and was elected Master of the

Clockmakers' Company The Worshipful Company of Clockmakers was established under a Royal Charter granted by King Charles I in 1631. It ranks sixty-first among the livery companies of the City of London, and comes under the jurisdiction of the Privy Council. The ...

. Meanwhile, the number of H. Samuel stores rose to over two hundred nationwide. After the brothers' deaths in the late 1970s, Robert's son took over as chairman. In 1984, H. Samuel acquired the James Walker Group, which doubled the company's presence in the UK. H. Samuel was bought by Ratner's Jewellers in 1986; after that brand's spectacular fall from grace in 1992, the Ratner Group rebranded as the Signet Group, and existing Ratner's stores were rebranded with the H. Samuel name. In 2005 the chain launched its first

e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) refers to commercial activities including the electronic buying or selling products and services which are conducted on online platforms or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile co ...

site. In 2008, the company employed 17,200 people. There are 303 stores as of 16 February 2015.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Samuel, H. 1862 establishments in England British companies established in 1862 Jewellery retailers of the United Kingdom Retail companies based in London Retail companies established in 1862