William Mendel

William Mendel (1854-1917) was a financier who with his partners arranged funding for several businesses in Britain during the late 19th and early 20th century. These included Harrods, Dickins & Jones, and D H Evans. Some of their money making activities were controversial and evidence was given in court that they paid inducements to newspapers for favourable reviews.

Mendel was the son of Rosa and Isaac Mendel, born on 19 June 1854 in Elmshorn, Pinneberg, Schleswig-Holstein Germany. He was a merchant in China for a period and in the mid 1880s worked in London for the former Hong Kong Bank chairman, Baron Adolf von André. Mendel became a partner of this business in 1886. In 1889 he was appointed a director of Trustees, Executors, and Securities Insurance Corporation (Limited), a business that made money from promoting and underwriting companies.

In 1889 Charles Digby Harrod sold his interests in Harrods departmental store to a company called Harrod’s Stores (Limited). The capital for this was raised via a stock market flotation, underwritten by André & Mendel. They received their commission plus 466 £1 founders’ shares of the 1400 that were issued. Their annual dividend from these shares was significant, for example in 1911-12 a £1 founders share paid a dividend of 5800%. Other holders of founders' shares included three directors of Harrod's Store: Alfred J. Newton, Edgar Cohen and Sir James Bailey.

The store went through a difficult period after Charles Harrod left, and income dropped. Harrod was asked to return and he recommended a new general manager be appointed called Richard Burbidge who had worked for Whiteley's - one of the largest stores in London. Burbidge started in 1891 and soon recommended a major expansion plan for the store. To achieve this, an extra £100,000 investment was required, and William Mendel was appointed to the board to help raise the capital.

The shareholders were either ungrateful to Mendel or unaware of the part he had played because in 1899, when he came up for re-election by rotation to the board of directors, the shareholders rejected him due to his poor attendance record at meetings. A special shareholders meeting was convened at which the chairman persuaded the shareholders to accept him back and he was re-appointed.

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