We wish to introduce our establishment George Steuart
(Teas & Marketing) (Private) Limited as a subsidiary
of George Steuart & Company Limited, the oldest
mercantile company in Sri Lanka. It is also one
of the oldest companies in the world. It was founded
in 1835 by an intrepid and high-principled sea captain
James Steuart, who sailed the southern ocean at the
beginning of the 19th century and in the course of a
voyage to Ceylon, as it then was, saw the potential of
the island for economic development and commerce.
This company, set up in 1835 as a partnership,
acted as a Managing and Financing house for coffee
plantations and in this capacity played an important
role in the opening of forest lands for the cultivation
of coffee.
As a result of the coffee blight in 1870, coffee was
abandoned and tea was planted in its place. The Company
continued to take an active part in development by financing
the transition from coffee cultivation to tea . From that
time until 1975, when all large plantations were nationalized,
the company continued to finance and manage some 25,000 hectares
of tea, rubber and coconut lands owned by both British and Sri
Lankan Companies and was one of the largest and leading managing
agency Companies in Sri Lanka.
The Company is incorporated in Sri Lanka and became a
Limited Liability Company in 1954. The Head Office building,
owned by the Company, was developed to make way for a new
high-rise-building-Steuart House in the heart of Colombo’s
business and financial district.
The nationalization of plantations in mid seventies
prompted the Company, well known for its caution and
dependability in business, to diversity into various
other fields of activity.
George Steuarts ventured into a number of new lines;
and the group’s current portfolio of activities are
represented by the Export of Tea, Import & Distribution
of Pharmaceuticals, Airline Ticketing, Inbound and Outbound
Tours, Issue of Travellers Cheques, Manufacture and Installation
of Telephones and allied services and products, Manpower Recruitment
for prestigious overseas Principals, General Sales Agency for
Airlines, Insurance, Freight Forwarding and Education.
