Trust House Forte
Forte Group plc was a British hotel and restaurant company. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until it was acquired by Granada in 1996. Its head office was in the London Borough of Camden. History Charles Forte (26 November 1908 – 28 February 2007) was a British/Italian caterer and hotelier who founded the leisure and hotels conglomerate that ultimately became Forte Group. Charles Forte, funded by his two business partners, Eric Hartwell and Sidney Hartwell, set up his first "milk bar" on Regent Street in London in 1935 as ''Strand Milk Bar Ltd'' when he was 26. Soon he began expanding into catering and hotel businesses. After the Second World War, his company became Forte Holdings Ltd, and bought The Café Royal in 1954. Forte was a major caterer at the Festival of Britain sites in 1951 and also operated the restaurants and bars at London Airport, later known as London Heathrow airport. Forte opened the first full mot ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Public Company
A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of share capital, stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange (listing (finance), listed company), which facilitates the trade of shares, or not (unlisted public company). In some jurisdictions, public companies over a certain size must be listed on an exchange. In most cases, public companies are ''private'' enterprises in the ''private'' sector, and "public" emphasizes their reporting and trading on the public markets. Public companies are formed within the legal systems of particular states and so have associations and formal designations, which are distinct and separate in the polity in which they reside. In the United States, for example, a public company is usually a type of corporation, though a corporation need not be a public company. In the United Kin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Heathrow Airport
Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others being Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, City and Southend). The airport is owned and operated by Heathrow Airport Holdings. In 2024, Heathrow was the busiest airport in Europe, the fifth-busiest airport in the world by passenger traffic and the second-busiest airport in the world by international passenger traffic. Heathrow was the airport with the most international connections in the world in 2024. Heathrow was founded as a small airfield in 1930 but was developed into a much larger airport after World War II. It lies west of Central London on a site that covers . It was gradually expanded over 75 years and now has two parallel east–west ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Summerland Disaster
The Summerland disaster occurred when a fire spread through the Summerland leisure centre in Douglas on the Isle of Man on the night of 2 August 1973. 50 people were killed and 80 seriously injured. The scale of the fire has been compared to those seen during the Blitz. Background Summerland was opened on 25 May 1971. It was a climate-controlled building covering on Douglas's waterfront, consisting of of floor area constructed at a cost of £2 million. The building's exterior and the interior were designed by two architects who did not coordinate their planning with each other and thereby created a venue with significant fire risks. Summerland was designed to accommodate up to 10,000 tourists and consisted of a dance hall, five floors of holiday games, a rollerskating rink, restaurants and public bars. It was an example of Modernist architecture incorporating advanced controlled internal climate, built with novel construction techniques using new plastic materials. The stre ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Harvester Restaurant
Harvester may refer to: Agriculture and forestry * Combine harvester, a machine commonly used to harvest grain crops * Forage harvester, a machine used to harvest forage * Harvester (forestry), a type of heavy vehicle employed in cut-to-length logging of trees * International Harvester, a former agricultural machinery company Information technology * Harvester (web), a tool to download websites * Harvester (HCI), an open-source hyper-converged infrastructure started in 2020 by SUSE * Bioinformatic Harvester, a bioinformatic meta search engine Music * Harvester (band) or Träd, Gräs, och Stenar, a Swedish progressive band * Harvester (American band), an American indie rock band * The Harvesters (band), a Swedish alternative country band Movies and TV * ''The Harvester'' (1927 film), an American silent comedy film * ''The Harvester'', a 1936 American comedy film * The Harvesters (Doctor Who), a 1968, ''Doctor Who'' adventure serial * ''The Harvesters'' (film), a 2018 film ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Crest Hotels
Crest Hotels Limited was a Bass-Charrington subsidiary operating the hotel interests of the brewery company in the United Kingdom. Crest's headquarters were in the former Hunt Edmunds brewery premises in Banbury, Oxfordshire. History In 1969 Bass transferred all its hotels, which had previously traded under the Bass, Mitchells and Butler's and Charrington's brands, into the Crest Hotels portfolio. Bass bought the European hotel interests of the Esso Petroleum Company in 1972. These were modern, purpose-built hotels located in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Germany and Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust .... The deal involved 18 Esso Motor Hotels, of which ten in the United Kingdom, three were in the Netherlands, two in Belgium a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Travelodge UK
Travelodge Hotels Limited, trading as Travelodge, is a private company operating in the hotels and hospitality industry throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain. Company history Opening by Trusthouse Forte In the early 1970s, Charles Forte imported the Travelodge brand from the United States with the hope of establishing it in the UK. The first Travelodge locations opened in 1973 in former Excelsior Motor Lodge branches, a brand of motels owned by Forte which were located near busy roads. In 1976, Trusthouse Forte would open Little Chef Lodges; these were attached to Little Chef restaurants and the first chain of budget hotels in the UK. In 1988, the two chains were combined and rebranded to become "Forte Travelodge". Granada ownership In 1995, Travelodge was bought by Granada, when the Forte Group (formerly Trusthouse Forte) underwent a hostile takeover. Granada decided to open Travelodges away from the roadside, with the first urban Travelodge opening in 1997. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Little Chef
Little Chef was a British chain of roadside restaurants; founded in 1958 by Sam Alper and Peter Merchant who were inspired by American Diner, diners. The chain was famous for the "Olympic Breakfast" – its version of a full English breakfast – as well as its "Early Starter" and "Jubilee Pancakes". The restaurants were mostly located on A roads, often paired with a Travelodge UK, Travelodge hotel, a Burger King and a petrol station. The chain was also located along Motorway, motorways in Moto Hospitality, Moto Services, for a time. The chain expanded rapidly throughout the 1970s, with its parent company acquiring its only major competitor, Happy Eater, in the 1980s. After all Happy Eater locations were converted to the Little Chef fascia in the late 1990s, the chain peaked with 439 restaurants. Little Chef began to face decline in the early 2000s, mainly due to over-expansion, meaning it could not properly invest in all of its locations. By the end of 2005, almost half of its ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Variety (magazine)
''Variety'' is an American trade magazine owned by Penske Media Corporation. It was founded by Sime Silverman in New York City in 1905 as a weekly newspaper reporting on theater and vaudeville. In 1933, ''Daily Variety'' was launched, based in Los Angeles, to cover the film industry, motion-picture industry. ''Variety'' website features entertainment news, reviews, box office results, plus a credits database, production charts and film calendar. History Founding ''Variety'' has been published since December 16, 1905, when it was launched by Sime Silverman as a weekly periodical covering theater and vaudeville, with its headquarters in New York City. Silverman had been fired by ''The Morning Telegraph'' in 1905 for panning an act which had taken out an advert for $50. He subsequently decided to start his own publication that, he said, would "not be influenced by advertising." With a loan of $1,500 from his father-in-law, he launched ''Variety'' as publisher and editor. In additi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Quaglino's
Quaglino's ( ) is a restaurant in central London which was founded in 1929, closed in 1977, and revived in 1993. From the 1930s through the 1950s, the original Quaglino's was popular among the British aristocracy, including the royal family, many of whom were regulars, and was a haunt of London's café society. It offered dinner, music and dancing. In the 1960s, it was sold to a succession of hotel companies, and its reputation faded; it closed in 1977. The name was revived for a new restaurant at the same location in 1993, "aiming to revive the spirit of the original". Origins Giovanni "John" and his brother Ernesto "Ernest" Quaglino were immigrants from Piedmont, Italy, probably from Riva presso Chieri or Refrancore, Asti. John was the ''maître d'hôtel'' at the Hôtel Martinez in Cannes, and later worked at Savoy Hotel, The Savoy in London with Giovanni "John" Sovrani. Sovrani left The Savoy to start Sovrani's Restaurant in Jermyn Street in 1927, taking Quaglino with him ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Grosvenor House Hotel
] JW Marriott Grosvenor House London, formerly the Grosvenor House Hotel, is a luxury hotel that opened in 1929 in the Mayfair area of London, England. Across from Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park, the hotel is built on the former site of the 19th century aristocratic Grosvenor House residence. The hotel is managed by JW Marriott Hotels, which is a brand of Marriott International, and it is owned by Katara Hospitality. History The Grosvenor House Hotel was built in the 1920s and opened in 1929 on the site of Grosvenor House, the former London residence of the Dukes of Westminster, whose family name is Grosvenor. The hotel owed its existence to Arthur Octavius Edwards, who conceived and built it, then presided over it as chairman for 10 years. A.H. Jones had worked for Edwards in Doncaster. In January 1929, six months after the completion of the first block of apartments, and six months before completion of the hotel, Edwards brought Jones to Grosvenor House as accountant. In 1936 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Trust Houses Ltd
Trust Houses Ltd was a British hospitality company with temperance origins dating back to 1900. It maintained a distinctive ethos for much of the 20th century. In 1970, at which point it was operating almost 200 hotels, it merged with Forte Holdings Ltd to form Trust House Forte (THF), later the Forte Group. Company origins In 1900, Albert Grey, the fourth Earl Grey, proposed a plan to establish a system of what were termed ‘public house trust companies’ for London and the provinces. These companies would acquire licensed premises and manage them as trusts in the interests of the community, rather than private profit. In this Grey was influenced by temperance proposals published in 1894 by Francis Jayne, Bishop of Chester, who had studied the Swedish Gothenburg system. The managers of trust-run licensed premises would be paid a fixed salary with a bonus for good management, but no commission on the sale of alcohol. The public-houses would be refreshment houses, and not me ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |