traded as lse inch industry automotive founded 1847 headquarters london united kingdom key people ken hanna non executive chairman stefan bomhard group ceo revenue 6 836.3 million 2015 1 operating income 324.7 million 2015 1 net income 182.9 million 2015 1 website www.inchcape.com inchcape plc lse inch is a multinational automotive retail and services company headquartered in london united kingdom . it has operations in 26 countries across africa asia australasia europe and south america . 2 inchcape is listed on the london stock exchange and is a constituent of the ftse 250 index . contents 1 history 1.1 1847 to 1950 1.2 1950 to 1990 1.3 1990 to 2000 1.4 2000 to present 2 operations 3 references 4 external links history edit 1847 to 1950 edit in 1847 william mackinnon and robert mackenzie formed the mackinnon mackenzie company mmc a general merchanting partnership based in calcutta . 3 in 1856 mackinnon formed the calcutta and burma steam navigation company to carry post to the region 3 the company appointed mmc as their agents secured contracts to transport british troops from ceylon to india during the indian mutiny of 1857 and in 1862 floated on the london stock exchange under the name british india steam navigation company . 3 in 1874 james lyle mackay joined mackinnon and mackenzie in calcutta and by 1914 was the sole surviving senior partner in mmc . largely responsible for solving india s currency problems and for the adoption of the gold standard he was given a peerage by king george v for his services to industry in 1911 . 3 he chose the title baron inchcape of strathnaver to commemorate the inchcape rock which lies off arbroath and strathnaver in scotland . 3 1950 to 1990 edit an inchcape dealership in exeter by the 1950s the inchcape family had diverse interests around the world . this period brought new legislation and tax laws and under the third lord inchcape the family s many interests including mmc were consolidated into inchcape and company . 3 in 1958 inchcape and company became a public company and offered twenty five per cent of its equity for sale on the london stock exchange . 3 inchcape s growth was largely due to a series of mergers and acquisitions including the merger with borneo company limited in 1967 which almost doubled the company s size by adding hong kong malaysia canada singapore brunei and thailand to the operation . 3 in 1972 dodwell & company was acquired adding extensive shipping motors and business machine trading in the far east . 3 dodwell & co. gave inchcape further interests in this region which it maintained as quasi independent companies rather than forming one large entity . dodwell & co. was founded in shanghai in 1858 and by the 1970s had established extensive businesses in shipping motors and business machine trading in hong kong japan and many other far eastern ports and cities . 3 mann egerton & company ltd. acquired in 1973 laid the foundations for inchcape s motor distribution business . founded at the end of the 19th century in norwich by an electrical engineer and an early motoring pioneer mann egerton sold cars manufactured by de dion renault and daimler at the turn of the century initially from branches in the eastern counties of england . by the 1970s mann egerton distributed british leyland cars as well as an extensive range of luxury cars . 3 inchcape bought joska bourgeois s japanese car distribution business the international motor company for 14.6 million in 1979 . 4 reincorporated as inchcape plc in 1981 the company acquired during the 1980s several petrol textile electronic and mineral testing and inspection companies and formed a specific testing business stream . this business stream kept on growing due to the acquisition of the caleb brett group semko and various others such as etl testing laboratories . 5 by 1989 the motors segment of inchcape was contributing two thirds of group turnover and 53.6 percent of group profits the greater part contributed by toyota . 3 1990 to 2000 edit under the chairmanship of george turnbull inchcape had reinforced in the 1980s its concentration on its core businesses . the key businesses at that time were organized into three main areas services marketing and distribution and resources . the service businesses consisted of buying insurance inspection and testing and shipping . the marketing and distribution businesses covered business machines consumer and industrial services and motors . the resource based businesses covered tea and timber . 3 a combination of factors plunged inchcape into its two most difficult years ever 1994 and 1995 . difficult economic conditions in some of the company s key markets particularly in western europe and hong kong dampened consumer spending while the strength of the yen made inchcape s japanese products notably the toyota automobiles less attractive than those of competitors based outside japan . in certain areas such as marketing inchcape had also become a more bureaucratic organization than in the past and had lost touch with some of the local markets it served . 3 a new management team determined that inchcape had to focus on its core international distribution businesses in order to turn things around and began making significant business divestments including selling the bain hogg insurance brokerage subsidiary to the aon corporation in the united states for 160 million in 1996 . in the same year the testing service division was part of a management buy out by charterhouse development capital and renamed intertek testing services . 6 in march 1998 spurred by the asian economic crisis inchcape announced that it would focus exclusively on worldwide car distribution the most successful part of the group . one of the first major sectors to go was the company s russian soft drink bottling business . inchcape sold that part of their operations to the coca cola company for us 87 million . the sales of bottling businesses in south america marketing services in asia and the middle east the global shipping business inchcape shipping services iss and the asia pacific office automation business were some of the wide range of divestments that quickly followed . in july 1999 the new motors only inchcape was officially born . 3 2000 to present edit in june 2000 peter johnson became chief executive officer . 7 the economic recovery in the far east helped restore profits as did the sale of inchcape s forty nine per cent stake in toyota gb to toyota in 2000 . 8 in 2006 andr lacroix took over as ceo 9 and in 2007 inchcape acquired european motor holdings a leading european motor retailer . 10 then stefan bomhard took over as ceo in january 2015 . 11 operations edit inchcape operates mainly in the uk greece belgium australia hong kong and singapore . 12 references edit a b c preliminary results 2015 pdf . inchcape . retrieved 9 april 2016 . corporate profile pdf . inchcape plc. retrieved 25 april 2011 . a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o history of inchcape plc fundinguniverse . fundinguniverse.com . retrieved 28 march 2015 . tom bower 2001 . the paymaster geoffrey robinson maxwell and new labour . simon & schuster . p. 49 . isbn 978 0 7432 0689 1 . its changes identity . pr newswire . retrieved 28 march 2015 . intertek to go for float . the telegraph . 24 march 2002 . retrieved 28 march 2015 . johnson steps down from inchcape . auto news . 15 may 2008 . retrieved 28 may 2015 . toyota motor corporation toyota gb pdf . european commission . 1 september 2000 . retrieved 28 march 2015 . new ceo wanted at inchcape as lacroix resigns . city am . 30 september 2014 . retrieved 28 march 2015 . inchcape to buy european motor to expand its business . bloomberg . 15 december 2006 . retrieved 28 march 2015 . inchcape appoints stefan bomhard as chief executive . morning star . 30 january 2015 . retrieved 28 march 2015 . chris parker inchcape . treasury today . october 2005 . retrieved 28 march 2015 . bibliography jones stephanie 1986 . two centuries of overseas trading the origins and growth of the inchcape group . macmillan in association with business history unit university of london . isbn 978 0 333 37172 5 . external links edit official site inchcape for business yahoo profile v t e automotive industry in the united kingdom manufacturing in the united kingdom economy of the united kingdom companies and marques commercial vehicle producers current alexander dennis plaxton dennis eagle ibc vehicles jcb leyland trucks the london taxi company optare smith electric vehicles stevens wrightbus former albion aec bedford bristol clough smith commer daimler erf foden ford southampton plant guy jensen karrier ldv modec scammell seddon atkinson sentinel shelvoke and drewry straker squire thornycroft tilling stevens motorsport advanced engine research arena motorsport carlin chevron cars cosworth dowdeswell and hardie engine developments ltd. force india ford world rally team fortec hewland ilmor lola cars manor 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