Matthew Clark

For other people named Matthew Clark, see Matthew Clark (disambiguation).

Matthew Clark is a United Kingdom based drinks distributor, jointly owned by Constellation Brands Inc. and Punch Taverns Ltd.

The company was formed in 1810 by Matthew Clark, the son of Charles Clark, Inspector General of Imported Liquors and Distillery at the Port of London and later Merchant Gauger for the City of London^[1]. It was known for most of its history as a City of London wine and spirit importer as Matthew Clark and Sons. Six generations of the Clark/Gordon Clark family worked in it while it was an independent company. It was originally based in Great Tower Street, then from 1925 at 14 Trinity Square, Tower Hill, from 1956 at Walbrook House, and from 1972 at the Finsbury Distillery, the premises of the firm of that name, manufacturers of Stone’s Ginger wine, taken over in 1964. The Leeds based firm of J. E. Mather, manufacturer of “Barchester British Wine”, was taken over 1965-7. But the main business of the firm was that of representing foreign companies, principally from 1814 J. & F. Martell of Cognac, the great French brandy house, John DeKuyper & Son of Rotterdam, manufacturers of gin, by 1827, and up to 1925 Pedro Domecq, the sherry producers of Jerez de la Frontera. The archives of the firm were deposited in the Guildhall Library and are now in the London Metropolitan Archives (ref CLC/B/158); they are of considerable interest for the history of the wine and spirit trade in the 19th and early 20th century.

In 1990, after listing on the London Stock Exchange, the company began acquiring other drinks manufacturers and distributors, including:^[2]

• Grants of St James's
• Gaymer Cider Company
• Taunton Cider Company
• Freetraders
• Dunn and Moore
• Griersons

In 1998, Matthew Clark plc was acquired by Constellation Brands Inc of the United States. In 2002, the company acquired Forth Wines, and Constellation then sold a 50% stake to Punch Taverns.

In 2009, having consolidated the cider business under the Gaymer company, that business was sold to C&C Group plc of Ireland, leaving Matthew Clark Holdings Ltd as a wines and spirits distribution business.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ^ H. H. Gordon Clark, The Family of Clark, privately printed 1925
2. ^ "About Us". Matthew Clark. http://www.matthewclark.co.uk/aboutus/history.asp. Retrieved 2010-12-29. 

External links

• Matthew Clark