Distillers Company Limited

The Distillers Company Limited was a company formed in 1877 by a combination of six Scotch whisky distilleries: Macfarlane & Co., John Bald & Co. John Haig & Co, MacNab Bros & Co, Robert Mowbray and Stewart & Co. This company was born out of a trade association called the Scotch Distillers’ Association formed in 1865.

It was acquired by Guinness in 1986, forming United Distillers, and is now part of Diageo.

ubsidiaries

A list of 41 subsidiaries of the Distillers Company as of 22 July 1980:

#Ainslie & Heilbron (Distillers) Ltd, Glasgow
#Baird-Taylor Ltd, Glasgow
#John Begg Ltd, Glasgow
#Benmore Distilleries Ltd, Glasgow
#J.A. Bertram & Co. Ltd, Edinburgh
#John Bisset & Co. Ltd, Edinburgh
#James Buchanan a Co. Ltd, London
#Bulloch Lade & Co. Ltd, Glasgow
#Geo. Cowie & Son Ltd, Dufftown
#John Crabbie & Co. Ltd, Edinburgh
#Craighall Bonding Co. Ltd, Glasgow
#A. & A. Crawford Ltd, Edinburgh
#Daniel Crawford & Co. Ltd, Glasgow
#The Distillers Agency Ltd, South Queens-ferry
#Peter Dawson Ltd, Glasgow
#John Dewar & Sons Ltd, Perth
#A. Ferguson & Co. Ltd, Edinburgh
#Donald Fisher Ltd, Edinburgh
#John Gillon & Co. Ltd, Glasgow
#Wm. Greer & Co. Ltd, Glasgow
#John Haig & Co. Ltd, Fife
#J. & W. Hardie Ltd, Edinburgh
#J. & R. Harvey & Co. Ltd, Glasgow
#John Hopkins & Co. Ltd, Glasgow
#Low Robertson & Co. Ltd, Edinburgh
#W.P. Lowrie & Co. Ltd, Glasgow
#Macdonald Greenlees Ltd, Edinburgh
#Macleay Duff (Distillers) Ltd, Glasgow
#D. & J. McCallum Ltd, Edinburgh
#John McEwan & Co. Ltd, Edinburgh
#Mitchell Bros. Ltd, Glasgow
#Jas. Munro & Son Ltd, Edinburgh
#John Robertson & Son Ltd, Edinburgh
#Wm. Sanderson & Son Ltd, Edinburgh
#Slater, Rodger & Co. Ltd, Glasgow
#J. & G. Stewart Ltd, Edinburgh
#R.H. Thomson & Co. (Distillers) Ltd, Edinburgh
#John Walker & Sons Ltd, London
#James Watson & Co. Ltd, Dundee
#White Horse Distillers Ltd, Glasgow
#Wright & Greig Ltd, Glasgow

Pharmaceuticals

At one time, Distillers' subsidiary "Distillers Biochemicals" was involved in the pharmaceutical industry. Most notably, Distillers was responsible for the manufacture of the drug Thalidomide in the United Kingdom [cite press release
date=8 December 2005|title=Historic Agreement Secures Financial Future for Thalidomide Survivors
url=http://staging.diageo.com/en-row/NewsAndMedia/PressReleases/2005/Press+releases20058Dec.htm
accessdate=2008-03-17] .

Distillers Company (Biochemicals) Limited, or DCBL, manufactured penicillin in Speke, Liverpool, beginning in
1942. The firm was invited by the British Ministry of Supply to be the agent of the English government. Following World War II, DCBL purchased the facility for approximately four million dollars. Prior to manufacturing and marketing Thalidomide, DCBL was never very successful, despite producing the first oral penicillin.

In July 1957 DCBL signed a sixteen year contract contract with Grunenthal to market Thalidomide, rather than the five year agreement it desired. DCBL ordered 6,000 tablets for clinical trial and 500 grammes of pure substance for "animal experiments" and "formulation". Thalidomide was marketed in England under the name Distaval, beginning on April 14, 1958. Advertisements emphasized the drug's complete safety, using phrases such as "non-toxic" and "no known toxicity." Later Thalidomide was marketed under the names Asmaval, Tensival, Valgis, and Valgraine. ["Suffer The Children: The Story of Thalidomide", The Insight Team of the Sunday Times (UK), Times Newspapers Ltd., 1979, pp. 42 "- " 46..]

References

ee also

* Guinness share-trading fraud

References

External links

* [http://www.diageo.com/en-row/AboutDiageo/OurHistory History page on Diageo website]