Guthrie & Co Ltd
Other Business Names:
- Guthrie, Alexander
- Anderson, Sir John
- Hay, Sir John
- Pemodalan Nasional Berhad
Locations city-town / local authority / county1974 / region-state / country:
- London, Greater London, Greater London, Greater London, England
- Malaysia
- Singapore
Sectors:
-
Merchanting & trade, international & inland
General trading & trade
-
Merchanting & trade, international & inland
General trading co & agency house activities
-
Agriculture & fishing
Plantation management, coffee
-
Agriculture & fishing
Plantation management, rubber
-
Extraction
Tin extraction
Notes:
Traced origins to Alexander Guthrie who established himself in business as a merchant at Singapore in 1820. By 1833 trading as Guthrie & Co. As 19th century progressed acquired characteristics of an agency house. Developed important management interests in rubber and coffee plantation and in tin mining companies in Malaya as well as representing a host of UK businesses locally and taking direct investment stakes in local businesses. Consolidated interests after 1918, adding palm oil as an important commodity in which firm became involved. Incorporated 1903 as Guthrie & Co Ltd. In 20th century dominated by Sir John Anderson and Sir John Hay. Post 1945 diversified away from Malaya in face of Malaysianisation and became a public company. However, still held major plantation and mining interests in Malaya when, in 1981, acquired by Pemodalan Nasional Berhad, an investment vehicle of the Malaysian government
Publications:
- British agency houses in Malaysia. Survival in a changing world by Drabble, John, & Peter J Drake
- British Business in Post Colonial Malaysia, 1957-70. Neo colonialism or disengagement? by White, Nicholas J
- Business, Government and the End of Empire. Malaya, 1942-1957 by White, Nicholas J
- Commerce in Rubber. The first 250 years by Coates, Austin
- Government and Business in the Era of Decolonization. Malaya, 1942-57 by White, Nicholas J
- Merchants, Bankers, Governors. British enterprise in Singapore and Malaya, 1786-1920 by Drake, Peter J
- Merchants to Multinationals. British trading companies in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries by Jones, Geoffrey
- 'Sino British mercantile relations in Singapore's entrepôt trade, 1870-1915' in J Ch'en & N Tarling, Studies in the Social History of China and South East Asia. Essays in memory of Victor Purcell by Chiang, Hai Ding
- The Traders. A story of Britain's South East Asian commercial adventure by Cunyngham Brown, Sjovald
- 'Ungentlemanly capitalism'. Sir John Hay and Malaya, 1904-1964 by White, Nicholas J
- 'Western capital and entrepreneurship. Strategy and structure' in R A Brown, Capital and Entrepreneurship in South East Asia by Brown, Rajeswary A
- ‘Unfinished business’ of Malaysia's decolonisation. The origins of the Guthrie ‘Dawn Raid by Yacob, Shakila, & Nicholas J White
Groups:
Other Business Names:
- Guthrie, Alexander
- Anderson, Sir John
- Hay, Sir John
- Pemodalan Nasional Berhad
Locations city-town / local authority / county1974 / region-state / country:
- London, Greater London, Greater London, Greater London, England
- Malaysia
- Singapore
Sectors:
- Merchanting & trade, international & inland General trading & trade
- Merchanting & trade, international & inland General trading co & agency house activities
- Agriculture & fishing Plantation management, coffee
- Agriculture & fishing Plantation management, rubber
- Extraction Tin extraction
Notes:
Traced origins to Alexander Guthrie who established himself in business as a merchant at Singapore in 1820. By 1833 trading as Guthrie & Co. As 19th century progressed acquired characteristics of an agency house. Developed important management interests in rubber and coffee plantation and in tin mining companies in Malaya as well as representing a host of UK businesses locally and taking direct investment stakes in local businesses. Consolidated interests after 1918, adding palm oil as an important commodity in which firm became involved. Incorporated 1903 as Guthrie & Co Ltd. In 20th century dominated by Sir John Anderson and Sir John Hay. Post 1945 diversified away from Malaya in face of Malaysianisation and became a public company. However, still held major plantation and mining interests in Malaya when, in 1981, acquired by Pemodalan Nasional Berhad, an investment vehicle of the Malaysian governmentPublications:
- British agency houses in Malaysia. Survival in a changing world by Drabble, John, & Peter J Drake
- British Business in Post Colonial Malaysia, 1957-70. Neo colonialism or disengagement? by White, Nicholas J
- Business, Government and the End of Empire. Malaya, 1942-1957 by White, Nicholas J
- Commerce in Rubber. The first 250 years by Coates, Austin
- Government and Business in the Era of Decolonization. Malaya, 1942-57 by White, Nicholas J
- Merchants, Bankers, Governors. British enterprise in Singapore and Malaya, 1786-1920 by Drake, Peter J
- Merchants to Multinationals. British trading companies in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries by Jones, Geoffrey
- 'Sino British mercantile relations in Singapore's entrepôt trade, 1870-1915' in J Ch'en & N Tarling, Studies in the Social History of China and South East Asia. Essays in memory of Victor Purcell by Chiang, Hai Ding
- The Traders. A story of Britain's South East Asian commercial adventure by Cunyngham Brown, Sjovald
- 'Ungentlemanly capitalism'. Sir John Hay and Malaya, 1904-1964 by White, Nicholas J
- 'Western capital and entrepreneurship. Strategy and structure' in R A Brown, Capital and Entrepreneurship in South East Asia by Brown, Rajeswary A
- ‘Unfinished business’ of Malaysia's decolonisation. The origins of the Guthrie ‘Dawn Raid by Yacob, Shakila, & Nicholas J White