In the first couple of years, the English voiced their aspirations towards redirecting the entire Safavīd silk trade. This was an idea that Sir Robert Sherley (ambassador at Shah Abbas I’s court) cultivated early on, and he proposed that the English factors seize the opportunity before the Dutch could take the entire trade. Despite Sherley’s enthusiasm, the English were unlikely to redirect all Safavīd silk through London. Especially as Roger Ferrier has argued the Armenians established a reputation for over two centuries and a vast network of commercial ties that the English were not likely to overthrow.