smythson headquarters bond street london united kingdom area served global locations key people samantha cameron creative director jacques bahbout chairman 1 xavier rougeaux chief commercial officer 1 products leather goods and personal stationery owner tivoli group website smythson.com an example of smythson s work an engraved monogrammed calling card . frank smythson ltd. more simply known as smythson sma s n of bond street is a british manufacturer of luxury stationery leather goods diaries and fashion products based in london england . smythson opened his first shop on 29 september 1887 at 133 new bond street london . the current flagship store is located at 40 new bond street london . clients have included the current royal family queen victoria and many other now deceased royals many uk politicians and prime ministers sir edmund hillary madonna and grace kelly and many other well known clients . smythson can customise its leather and desk product lines with gilt initials for example . much of the leather customisation is done in store in full view of the customers . bespoke printing and personalisation is another important product line ; particularly for weddings and parties . the highest end stationery is often detailed with 24 carat gilded edges hand painted borders custom engraved motifs and monograms . in 1908 the company created the first featherweight diary 2 enabling diaries to be carried about . 3 smythson opened its first freestanding store in the united states on west 57th street near fifth avenue in new york city . sawickitarella architecture design designed the shop using simple lines and colours following the style of the store s products . smythson products are also available in the us at the high end department store bergdorf goodman nearby . in addition to the bond street flagship there are also boutiques on sloane street and in westbourne grove and concessions in harvey nichols harrods and selfridges department stores as well as heathrow terminals 2 3 and 5 . there is also a store at the bicester village outlet mall near oxford . other international locations include david jones elizabeth street in sydney galeries lafayette paris and harvey nichols and pacific place in hong kong . the bond street store incorporates a room acting as a small collection or museum dedicated to notable users of smythson products throughout its history . history edit in the 1950s the john menzies group acquired smythson which was at the time also operating under the name pendragon . in 1998 smythson s then managing director sarah elton led a management buyout backed by a private investor . since then the business has grown and the company is now operating outlets in the uk u.s. hong kong and online through their website . in 2004 smythson recorded 12m in sales revenues . in early 2005 smythson shareholders appointed cavendish corporate finance limited to advise on the disposal of their stake in the business . besides maximizing value for themselves the shareholders wanted to find a buyer who would protect the heritage of the brand and offer the management team the opportunity to continue to grow . kelso place asset management and king street partners backed by a consortium of high net worth individuals were identified as the preferred bidders . sarah elton commented that she was satisfied with the deal . in mid december 2009 the label was sold for 18 million to greenwill sa 4 the holding company for tivoli group an italian leather goods manufacturer . jacques bahbout has become chief executive and chairman of smythson . 1 5 in recent years smythson has done a number of collaborations with young british artists and designers such as holly fulton in 2010 . 6 jonathan saunders in 2011 7 and quentin jones in 2014 . 8 the tivoli group its holding company is based in guernsey a tax haven . 9 in february 2015 the guardian newspaper questioned whether samantha cameron wife of the prime minister should work at a company that pays little to no corporate tax in the uk . 9 references edit a b c d jones nina 29 january 2014 . new role for jacques bahbout at smythson . wwd . retrieved 29 january 2014 . http www.smythson.com corporate diaries p. 181 moss victoria the archivists in style october 2012 jack ian 2010 03 27 . an unauthorised history of smythson s . the guardian . retrieved 2010 05 12 . milligan lauren 2010 05 26 . smythson ceo quits . vogue . retrieved 2010 10 08 . alexander ella 2010 07 14 . fulton for smythson . vogue . retrieved 2010 10 08 . bergin olivia . jonathan saunders for smythson . telegraph.co.uk . retrieved 12 october 2014 . ryder bethan . british artist quentin jones designs for smythson . telegraph.co.uk . retrieved 12 october 2014 . a b heather stewart eamonn butler should samantha cameron give up her day job the guardian 7 february 2015 external links edit smythson official international website v t e selected royal warrant holders of the british royal family by appointment to hm the queen abels moving services ainsworths angostura limited akzonobel autoglym axminster carpets bendicks bentley motors bollinger britvic bt burberry cadbury carphone warehouse castrol charbonnel et walker daks dhl express dorma ede & ravenscroft fortnum & mason frank smythson gieves & hawkes h. p. bulmer henry poole & co j. barbour and sons james purdey and sons jaguar cars john lewis john lobb land rover louis roederer mappin & webb martini & rossi minky molton brown mo t & chandon nestl procter & gamble uk richer sounds roberts radio ryvita schweppes spode steinway & sons tanqueray twinings unilever uk vauxhall motors veuve clicquot ponsardin waitrose weetabix wilkin & sons william drake wolsey worcestershire medal service by appointment to hrh the duke of edinburgh boots opticians daks ede & ravenscroft frank smythson gieves & hawkes hatchards holland & holland j. barbour and sons james purdey and sons john lobb land rover lyle & scott penhaligon s truefitt & hill by appointment to hrh the prince of wales ainsworths aston martin autoglym bentley motors burberry crabtree & evelyn daks ede & ravenscroft frank smythson gieves & hawkes holland & holland j. barbour and sons jaguar cars james purdey and sons john lobb land rover laphroaig linn products minky penhaligon s peter jones ritz hotel roberts radio shepherd neame taylors of harrogate turnbull & asser vauxhall motors waitrose weetabix winsor & newton category commons retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title smythson & oldid 731612758 categories british brandsluxury brandshigh fashion brandshidden categories pages using infobox company with unsupported parameters 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 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