 The Company's founder, Merril Fernando, was born in 1930 in the village of Pallansena, near Negombo.He moved to Colombo, where he became one of the Ceylonese tea tasters, training at Mincing Lane, London.In 1974 Fernando bought his first few tea estates to try his hand at producing Sri Lankan tea, and in 1981 he founded Ceylon Tea Services Limited.