W&A Gilbey was founded in 1857 as a
gin distillery by
Sir Walter Gilbey, but by 1962 had a diversified family share holding, chaired by former
figure skater and politician,
Ronald Gilbey. He had resigned from
London County Council in 1958, to become chairman of W&A Gilbey, a post he held for eleven years. At the time of the merger, Gilbey's was the largest wine and spirits company in the United Kingdom. In 1997,
Guinness merged with Grand Metropolitan to create
Diageo. In 1998 International Distillers & Vintners merged with
United Distillers to create
United Distillers & Vintners, forming the spirits division of Diageo. == Distilleries ==