privately held company industry retail founded 1707 ; 309 years ago 1707 founder william fortnum hugh mason headquarters piccadilly london w1 united kingdom number of locations 3 area served united kingdom dubai worldwide via stockists and online key people chairman kate hobhouse products luxury goods number of employees c. 5 000 2008 parent wittington investments ltd website fortnumandmason.com not to be confused with fortum . fortnum & mason colloquially often shortened to just fortnum s is an upmarket department store in piccadilly london with additional stores at st pancras railway station and heathrow airport in london as well as dubai and various stockists worldwide . its headquarters is located at 181 piccadilly where it was established in 1707 by william fortnum and hugh mason . today it is privately owned by wittington investments ltd. fortnum & mason on piccadilly the mechanical clock on the main facade the fruit and flowers section on the ground floor of fortnum and mason main staircase inside founded as a grocery store fortnum s reputation was built on supplying quality food and saw rapid growth throughout the victorian era . though fortnum s developed into a department store it continues to focus on stocking a variety of exotic speciality and also basic provisions . 1 the store has since opened several other departments such as the gentlemen s department on the third floor . it is also the location of a celebrated tea shop and several restaurants . contents 1 history 2 controversy 3 hampers 4 fortnum s london dry gin 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit william fortnum was a footman in the royal household of queen anne . the royal family s insistence on having new candles every night meant a lot of half used wax which william fortnum promptly resold for a tidy profit . the enterprising william fortnum also had a sideline business as a grocer . he convinced his landlord hugh mason to be his associate and they founded the first fortnum & mason store in mason s small shop in st james s market in 1707 . in 1761 william fortnum s grandson charles went into the service of queen charlotte and the royal court affiliation led to an increase in business . fortnum & mason claims to have invented the scotch egg in 1738 . 2 3 the store began to stock speciality items namely ready to eat luxury meals such as fresh poultry or game served in aspic jelly . 4 during the napoleonic wars the emporium supplied dried fruit spices and other preserves to the british officers and during the victorian era it was frequently called upon to provide food for prestigious court functions . queen victoria even sent shipments of fortnum & mason s concentrated beef tea to florence nightingale s hospitals during the crimean war . 5 charles drury edward fortnum f.s.a. 1820 1899 of the family was a distinguished art collector and a trustee of the british museum to which he donated his collection of islamic ceramics . 6 in 1886 after having bought the entire stock of five cases of a new product made by h.j. heinz fortnum & mason became the first store in britain to stock tins of baked beans . 5 in april 1951 canadian businessman w. garfield weston acquired the store and became its chairman following a boardroom coup . 7 in 1964 he commissioned a four ton clock to be installed above the main entrance of the store as a tribute to its founders . every hour 4 foot high 1.2 m models of william fortnum and hugh mason emerge and bow to each other with chimes and 18th century style music playing in the background . since garfield weston s death in 1978 the store has been run by his granddaughters jana khayat and kate weston hobhouse and the managing director is ewan venters . the store underwent a 24 million refurbishment in 2007 as part of its tercentenary celebrations . 8 in march 2012 the queen camilla duchess of cornwall and catherine duchess of cambridge made their first official joint visit to fortnum & mason . 9 the queen opened the diamond jubilee tea salon on the fourth floor . in november 2013 an additional store was opened at st pancras international station the first new store in the uk . 10 fortnum & mason opened its first standalone store outside britain in dubai on 21 march 2014 . controversy edit in november 2010 animal rights group peta uk began a campaign against fortnum & mason s sale of foie gras citing the cruelty in the production process . the group regularly holds demonstrations involving celebrities activists and volunteers outside the store . celebrities supporting the campaign include geezer butler sir roger moore 11 owain yeoman 12 tamara ecclestone 13 bill oddie 14 twiggy 15 and morrissey . 16 fortnum & mason has recently been reprimanded by westminster trading standards for misleading customers about its animal welfare standards . 17 as a result the grocer has changed its corporate social responsibility document to state that only uk suppliers are required to adhere to its welfare standards . on 26 march 2011 fortnum & mason was targeted by the group uk uncut who broke off from the main 2011 anti cuts protest march to target the tax avoidance policies of associated british foods which like fortnum & mason is owned by wittington investments . 18 this took the form of a mass sit in with some 138 uk uncut protesters being arrested . 19 hampers edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . november 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message fortnum & mason is famed for its loose leaf tea and its world renowned luxury picnic hampers which the store first distributed to victorian high society for events such as the henley regatta and ascot races . these hampers which contain luxury items such as stilton cheese champagne quails eggs and smoked salmon remain popular today especially at christmas time and can cost as of 2008 from 35 to 25 000 . fortnum s london dry gin edit on 14 november 2014 fortnum & mason released a rebranded and redeveloped london dry gin created as a partnership brand by the london distillery company ltd. 20 the london distillery company was approached by fortnum and mason in september 2014 to undertake the rebrand following continued in store success of dodd s gin which was created as a tribute to an 18th century engineer and entrepreneur ralph dodd . 21 dodd s gin was initially launched exclusively with fortnum & mason s in april 2013 . 22 fortnum s london dry gin is rectified and hand bottled less than three miles from the piccadilly store in battersea london and contains six organic botanicals . citation needed design agency united creatives were commissioned by the london distillery company ceo darren rook to undertake the label rebrand . 23 the labels are printed on fsc paper stock and are unvarnished . citation needed see also edit harrods jenners references edit suzy gershman 2006 . born to shop london . hoboken nj wiley publishing inc. isbn 978 0 7645 9891 3 . retrieved 2013 02 05 . single hen scotch egg . fortnum & mason . retrieved 22 august 2011 . glancey jonathan 5 november 2007 . a facial at fortnums never . the guardian . london . retrieved 2013 02 05 . 1700s . f & m. retrieved 2013 02 05 . a b 1800s . f & m. retrieved 2013 02 05 . lee sorensen . dictionary of art historians . dictionaryofarthistorians.org . retrieved 2012 02 04 . lord ampthill . the daily telegraph . 26 april 2011 . retrieved 2013 02 05 . 2007 . f & m. 11 may 2006 . retrieved 2013 02 05 . the queen catherine and camilla visit fortnum & mason . bbc news . bbc.com . 1 march 2012 . retrieved 2013 02 05 . fortnum & mason to open first new store in 307 years . the daily telegraph . telegraph.co.uk . 11 june 2013 . retrieved 2013 06 11 . sir roger moore says foie gras is cruel not yule . peta . 24 december 2010 . retrieved 7 december 2011 . owain yeoman joins foie gras . female first . 16 june 2011 . retrieved 7 december 2011 . tamara ecclestone i ve got a basic palate and simple needs . croatian times . croatiantimes.com . 2 december 2009 . retrieved 2013 02 05 . bill santa oddie delivers bag of coal to naughty fortnum & mason . peta . 10 november 2011 . retrieved 7 december 2011 . twiggy steps up foie gras campaign . contactmusic . 23 june 2011 . retrieved 7 december 2011 . http blog.peta.org.uk 2013 07 morrissey vs gordon ramsay in foie gras fracas jamie doward and jemima owen 17 december 2011 . fortnum and mason faces celebrity battle over its sale of cruel foie gras . the observer . guardian.co.uk . uk uncut occupy tax dodgers fortnum and mason press release . ukuncut.org.uk . 26 mar 2011 . retrieved 2013 02 05 . sunny hundal 27 march 2011 . occupation of fortnum & mason by ukuncut was peaceful . liberalconspiracy.org . retrieved 2013 02 05 . https www.londondistillery.com http www.fortnumandmason.com c 1752 the story of our exclusive gin.aspx https www.facebook.com fortnums posts 804259589651110 http www.unitedcreatives.com all article.php articleid 13 external links edit media related to fortnum & mason at wikimedia commons official website bonhams fortnum & mason v t e department stores of the united kingdom beales boswells of oxford british home stores w j daniel & co. debenhams fenwick fortnum & mason harrods harvey nichols hatchers hoopers house of fraser jarrolds john lewis liberty marks & spencer morleys selfridges v t e london landmarks buildings and structures bridges albert bridge hungerford bridge and golden jubilee bridges london bridge millennium footbridge tower bridge waterloo bridge westminster bridge entertainment venues cinemas empire leicester square bfi imax odeon leicester square football stadia wembley stadium national stadium craven cottage fulham emirates stadium arsenal loftus road queens park rangers olympic stadium west ham united selhurst park crystal palace stamford bridge chelsea white hart lane tottenham hotspur other major 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