W. A. Gilbey was founded in 1857 and was initially successful because wine imported from South Africa attracted less duty and the brothers passed on this advantage to their customers. That got them off the ground but almost immediately, in 1860, the rules changed.
Gladstone’s budget was as they say a game changer. He slashed duties on imports of everything from butter to wine and spirits. As these tariffs had been the mainstay of the economy what he gave with one hand he took away with the other. Income tax went up from seven to ten pence.
As well as slashing duties Gladstone created the off-licence system allowing grocers to sell alcohol. Three of these were appointed as the Gilbey’s agents in their districts and similar applications followed. Before long a leading local grocer was acting as the firm’s agent all over England.
A grocer who dealt in Gilbey wines and spirits was not allowed to sell those of any other firm, and the Gilbeys in return handed over to him all their existing customers in his district. This arrangement was of mutual advantage, and the Gilbey’s business increased so rapidly that in 1864 Henry Parry Gilbey left his own firm to join his brothers. In 1867 the three brothers paid £67,000 for the old Pantheon theatre and concert hall in Oxford Street for their headquarters. In 1875, they purchased the 470 acre Chateau Loudenne vineyards on the banks of the Gironde, and also bought two distilleries in Scotland.
Their Oxford Street offices were not suitable for the storage and distribution of their wines. The railways that had ruined their grandfather’s stagecoach business came to their help. The Roundhouse in Camden had been built for storing and turning round locomotives and carriages until trains got longer and it was too small. It was perfect for storing wine and spirits in bond but the business had got so big Gilbey’s additionally bought several adjacent warehouses covering twenty acres.
By the second half of the 20th century they owned a dizzying portfolio of international brands as well as vineyards and distilleries. They were a tempting takeover target and although in 1962 W&A Gilbey merged with Justerini and Brooks to form International Distillers & Vintners they were taken over by Grand Metropolitan in 1972. In 1997 Grand Metropolitan merged with Guinness to form Diageo.