International Distillers & Vintners was a brewing and wine and spirits distribution company, formed from the 1962 merger of W&A Gilbey and United Wine Traders.

Founders

W&A Gilbey was founded in 1857 as a gin distillery by Sir Walter Gilbey, but by 1962 had a diversified family share holding, chaired by former figure skater and politician,

Ronald Gilbey Alfred Ronald Dashwood Gilbey (20 February 1911 – 31 July 1977) was a British figure skater, businessman and politician. The son of Colonel Alfred Gilbey and his wife Beatrice ''née'' Holland, he was educated at Westminster School. His father ...

. He had resigned from

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

in 1958, to become chairman of W&A Gilbey, a post he held for eleven years. At the time of the merger, Gilbey's was the largest wine and spirits company in the United Kingdom. In 1972, the company was bought by

Watney Mann Watney Combe & Reid was a leading brewery in London. At its peak in the 1930s it was a constituent of the FT 30 index of leading companies on the London Stock Exchange. It produced Watney's Red Barrel. History The Watney family were the mai ...

, and became their consolidated wine and spirits division. The group was taken over by

Grand Metropolitan Grand Metropolitan plc was a leisure, manufacturing and property conglomerate headquartered in England. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until it merged with Guinness plc to for ...

in 1972.

Merger

In 1997, Guinness merged with Grand Metropolitan to create Diageo. In 1998 IDV was merged with

United Distillers United Distillers was a Scottish company formed in 1987 from combining the businesses of Distillers Company and Arthur Bell & Sons, both owned by Guinness. The company owned six single malt Scotch brands, which were relaunched as the ''Classi ...

to create

United Distillers & Vintners United Distillers was a Scottish company formed in 1987 from combining the businesses of Distillers Company and Arthur Bell & Sons, both owned by Guinness. The company owned six single malt Scotch brands, which were relaunched as the ''Classic ...

, forming the spirits division of Diageo plc.Competition Commission Report 1983

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:International Distillers and Vintners Distilleries in the United Kingdom Defunct breweries of the United Kingdom Diageo British companies established in 1962 Food and drink companies established in 1962 Food and drink companies disestablished in 1972