Jeeves of Belgravia (or Jeeves) is a British multinational retailer which offers specialist dry cleaning, garment and accessories care services. The company is based in London and currently has over 30 branches in 14 cities around the world, including; London,

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

, and Hong Kong.

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 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jee ...

to use the Jeeves name, the pair opened a shop at 8-10 Pont Street in Belgravia, 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 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 the fi ...

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 David Anthony Jacobs, Baron Jacobs, known as Anthony Jacobs (13 November 1931 – 21 June 2014) was a British businessman and an Independent politician. He left the Liberal Democrats in 2011. The son of Ridley and Ella Jacobs, he was educated a ...

(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 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 (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

. This international expansion has continued in recent years, with Jeeves now having branches in 13 countries around the world, including Philippines (Metro Manila), Singapore, Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), Taiwan (Taipei), UAE (Abu Dhabi), Qatar (Doha) and Turkey. 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 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