A long and proud history
In 1856 Robert Sinclair opened a small shop in Newcastle upon Tyne selling tobacco with his brother John; it was to be the start of the Robert Sinclair Tobacco Company. Meanwhile, in Portsmouth, Collis & Co. (Tobacco) Ltd, became one of the first tobacco wholesalers to have telephones and transport. The company was purchased by Imperial Distributors in 1966 and became known as Collis Distributors, and was acquired by W. H. Bale in 1978. The two companies became the Southern Wholesale division of Imperial Distributors, trading as Collis & Bales Ltd. It took until 1981 for Robert Sinclair and Collis & Bales to merge and become known as Sinclair & Collis Limited.
Taking the market forward
In 1988 a major programme of reorganisation and investment resulted in the company's Head Office relocating from Newcastle upon Tyne to Wolverhampton.
Over recent years, Sinclair Collis has built up a reputation for ‘Setting new standards in cigarette vending’ and has acheived quality and environmental accreditation for its services.
Sinclair Collis have continued to grow as the largest cigarette vendor both by aquisition and offering complementary services, incorporating them into the Sinclair Collis brand.
Recent developments have seen Sinclair Collis investing in new technologies and software. Our Vendmanager software provides a total vending operating solution through new hand-held technology.
