sources . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . october 2007 learn how and when to remove this template message h. samuel type private limited company industry retail founded liverpool england 1862 founder harriet samuel headquarters 15 golden square london england and hunters road hockley birmingham england number of locations 303 february 2015 key people terry burman chief executive products jewellery revenue 3.665 billion ye february 2008 signet group operating income 351.3 million ye february 2008 signet group profit 215.2 million ye february 2008 signet group owner signet jewelers number of employees 17 200 2008 signet group results website www.hsamuel.co.uk h. samuel on the junction of briggate and commercial street in leeds h. samuel oxford street london 2016 h. samuel is a mass market jewellery chain operating in the united kingdom and ireland . it is the number one middle mass market jewellery store in the united kingdom . there are 303 stores as of 16 february 2015 . an increasing number of the chain s stores trade in a new format known internally as millennium format stores . these are typified by removing the arcade style window displays and having low level display cases up to the lease line in mall stores and having large ceiling to floor windows in high street stores . this means the customer can not window shop and must enter the store to see what is on sale . the chain is part of the signet group who also own the ernest jones and leslie davis high street jewellery stores in the uk . signet group listed on the london and new york stock exchanges also owns sterling the largest speciality jewellery retailer in the united states of america which operates the number one kay brand jared the galleria of jewelry and a further ten regional brands . in 2005 the chain launched its first e commerce site . some h. samuel stores were formerly branches of ratner s jewellers which were re branded following that brand s spectacular fall from grace in 1992 . history edit the h.samuel story begins in 1862 when harriet samuel n e wolfe took over her father in law moses samuel s clock making and silversmith business in liverpool . harriet moved the business to manchester s market street and ran the mail order side . her son developed the retail area . the first h. samuel retail store opened in preston in 1890 closely followed by branches in rochdale and throughout lancashire . to accommodate the growing business the company moved to large headquarters in birmingham in 1912 . after the war harriet s grandsons gilbert and robert took over as chairman and vice chairman . in 1948 the company was successfully floated on the stock exchange . gilbert was appointed a cbe for political and public services became a queen s sheriff for the city of london and was elected master of the 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 . external links edit official website media related to h. samuel at wikimedia commons retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title h. samuel & oldid 744345609 categories companies established in 1862jewellery retailers of the united kingdom1862 establishments in englandhidden categories articles lacking sources from october 2007all articles lacking sourcespages using infobox company with unsupported parameterscommons category without a link on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 14 october 2016 at 16 48 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view