H. Samuel is a mass-market jewellery chain, operating in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It is part of the

Signet Group Signet Jewelers Ltd. (Ratner Group 1949–1993 then Signet Group plc to September 2008) is, as of 2015, the world's largest retailer of diamond jewellery. The company is domiciled in Bermuda and headquartered in Akron, Ohio, and is listed on ...

of jewellery retailers.

History

In 1862, Harriet Samuel (née Wolf) took over her father-in-law

Moses Samuel Moses Samuel was a clockmaker, translator of Hebrew works and writer. Life His parents were Emanuel Menachem Samuel and Hanna Hinde; his father moved from Kempen in Posen in Silesia (now Kępno in Poland) to London. Moses with his mother moved t ...

's clock-making and silversmith business in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

. Harriet moved the business to

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

's Market Street, Manchester, Market Street and ran the mail-order side. Her son developed the retail business, and opened the first H. Samuel retail store in Preston, Lancashire, Preston in 1890, closely followed by branches in Rochdale and throughout Lancashire. To accommodate the growing business, the company moved to larger headquarters in Birmingham in 1912.

After World War II, the Second World War, Harriet's grandsons, Gilbert Edgar and Robert Edgar, took over as chairman and vice chairman. In 1948, the company was listed on the London Stock Exchange. Gilbert was appointed a CBE for political and public services, was elected a Sheriffs of the City of London, Sheriff of the City of London, and was elected Master of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers, Clockmakers' Company. Meanwhile, the number of H. Samuel stores rose to over two hundred nationwide. After the brothers' deaths in the late 1970s, Robert's son took over as chairman. In 1984 he led an acquisition of the James Walker Group, which doubled the company's presence in the UK. H. Samuel was bought by Gerald Ratner, Ratner's Jewellers and some H. Samuel stores were formerly branches of Ratner's, which were re-branded following that brand's Ratner effect, spectacular fall from grace in 1992. In 2008, the company employed 17,200 people. There are 303 stores as of 16 February 2015,.

Acquired by Signet

The chain is now part of the

, which also owns the Ernest Jones and Leslie Davis jewellery stores in the UK. The Signet Group, listed on the London and New York stock exchanges, owns Sterling – the largest specialty jewellery retailer in the United States – which operates the Kay Jewelers, Kay and Jared national brands, and a further ten regional brands. In 2005 the chain launched its first e-commerce site.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Samuel, H. 1862 establishments in England British companies established in 1862 Jewellery retailers of the United Kingdom Retail companies based in London Retail companies established in 1862

History

Acquired by Signet

See also

External links