Jeeves of Belgravia (or Jeeves) is a British multinational retailer which offers specialist

dry cleaning Dry cleaning is any cleaning process for clothing and textiles using a solvent other than water. Clothes are instead soaked in a water-free liquid solvent (usually non-polar, as opposed to water which is a Solvent#Solvent classifications, polar ...

, garment and

accessories Accessory may refer to: * Accessory (legal term), a person who assists a criminal In anatomy * Accessory bone * Accessory breast * Accessory kidney * Accessory muscle * Accessory nucleus, in anatomy, a cranial nerve nucleus * Accessory nerve ...

care services. The company 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 ...

and currently has over 30 branches in 14 cities around the world, including; London,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, and

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

History

The company was founded in 1969 by Sydney Jacob and David Sandeluss. After being granted permission from

P.G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse ( ; 15 October 1881 – 14 February 1975) was an English writer and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Je ...

to use the

Jeeves Jeeves (born Reginald Jeeves, nicknamed Reggie) is a fictional character in a series of comedic short stories and novels by English author P. G. Wodehouse. Jeeves is the highly competent valet of a wealthy and idle young Londoner named Bertie W ...

name, the pair opened a shop at 8-10

Pont Street Pont Street is a fashionable street in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, central London, London, traversing the areas of Knightsbridge and Belgravia. The street is not far from the Knightsbridge department store Harrods to its north ...

Belgravia Belgravia () is a district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' during the Tudor Period, and became a dangerous pla ...

, London offering a specialist dry cleaning service for luxury garments. This shop in Pont Street is still the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

shop today. Sandeluss later sold his shares in the business to Sydney Jacob, who brought his brother Ronald Jacob into the ownership of the company. In 1980, the Jacob brothers sold Jeeves UK for £695,000 to women's clothing group Tricoville Ltd, under chairman Anthony Jacobs (no relation). At the same time, Tricoville also bought a 10% stake in Jeeves of Belgravia International, for £80,000. Jeeves was sold to Sketchley in 1987. The Sketchley retail business operated its own chain of high street dry cleaners, as well as owning the SupaSnaps

photo processing Photographic processing or photographic development is the chemical means by which photographic film or paper is treated after photographic exposure to produce a negative or positive image. Photographic processing transforms the latent image int ...

chain. In 1998, Sketchley was acquired by Minit Group, the international key cutting and shoe repair brand. Then in 2003, the Jeeves business was purchased by Johnson Service Group which at the time, operated the largest chain of dry cleaners in the UK- Johnson Dry Cleaners. In 2017, the Timpson Group acquired the Johnson Dry Cleaners business for £8.25m, and thus acquired Jeeves of Belgravia and Jeeves International. Jeeves opened its first overseas branch in New York in 1979. In 1994, the business opened its first branch in Hong Kong and then in 1995 Jeeves expanded to

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

. This international expansion has continued in recent years, with Jeeves now having branches in 13 countries around the world, including Philippines (

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila ( ), commonly shortened to Metro Manila and formally the National Capital Region (NCR; ), is the capital region and largest List of metropolitan areas in the Philippines, metropolitan area of the Philippines. Located ...

), Singapore, Malaysia (

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

), Taiwan (

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

), UAE (

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

), Qatar (

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

) and

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Jeeves has held a

royal warrant A royal warrant is a document issued by a monarch which confers rights or privileges on the recipient, or has the effect of law. Royal warrant may refer to: * Royal warrant of appointment, warrant to tradespeople who supply goods or services to a r ...

for Dry Cleaning Services to

HRH The Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Gwynedd who, from the late 12th century, used it (albeit inconsistent ...

for more than 30 years.

References

External links

*{{Official website, https://www.jeevesofbelgravia.co.uk 1969 establishments in England British companies established in 1969 Retail companies established in 1969 Companies based in London Retail companies of the United Kingdom Dry cleaning