Forte Group
Encyclopedia
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 PLC.
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. He opened the first full motorway service station for cars at Newport Pagnell
in 1959. Trust Houses Group Ltd and Forte Holdings merged in 1970 to become Trust Houses Forte or THF. The name was simplified to Trusthouse Forte in 1979.
Through mergers and expansion, the Forte Group expanded into a multi-billion pound business. It included the Little Chef
and Happy Eater
roadside restaurants, Crest
, Forte Grand, Travelodge
and Posthouse hotels, Harvester restaurants, contract catering firm Gardner Merchant, the wine merchant Grierson-Blumenthal, sporting goods retailer Lillywhites
(which adjoined the group's Criterion restaurant) and a majority (although non-controlling) stake in the Savoy Hotel
. Happy Eater
and the five Welcome Break
service areas were bought from Hanson Trust
on 1 August 1986. The group for a time started to resemble a conglomerate with interests spanning the Sidgwick & Jackson
publishing house, the Terry's
chocolate company, Puritan Maid and a stake in Thomas Cook
travel agents.
Forte was the CEO from 1971 and Chairman from 1982 (when his son Sir Rocco Forte
took over as CEO).
In the early 1990s, the company was rebranded as Forte and the crown logo was adoped at the same time. This rebranding also heralded the introduction of sub brand groups for almost all the hotels (Posthouse, Crest, Heritage, Grand etc.). Lord Forte passed full control to Rocco in 1993, but soon the Forte Group was faced with a hostile takeover bid from Granada. Ultimately, Granada succeeded with a £3.9 billion tender offer
in January 1996, which left the family with around £350 million in cash.
In 2001, following the de-merger of Compass plc
from Granada's media interests, the use of the Forte trademark was returned to Sir Rocco Forte in a gesture intended to dispel the bitter legacy of the takeover. Rocco now owns the Rocco Forte Hotels group.
Travelodge The Forte group acquired this US brand and rolled it out in the UK. These no frills hotels were mainly sited alongside the group's Little Chef roadside cafes. The signage and general get up colour of Travelodges was navy blue.
Forte Posthouse Hotels were mostly three-star hotels for business travellers. They were usually located in city centres or near major trunk roads. Some of these were sold to Holiday Inn
. The signage and general get up colour of Posthouses was red.
Forte Heritage Hotels ranged from smaller country house style hotels, e.g., The Old England Hotel in Windermere, the Berystede in Ascot and Leeming House in Ullswater, to former coaching inns such as the Box Hill hotel, Burford Bridge and the Swan at Lavenham. In addition, the brand included some larger resort type hotels, such as the Grand Atlantic at Weston Super Mare and the Imperial Hotel, Exmouth. Some of these were sold to Macdonald Hotels Ltd
, others are now operated by Mercure Hotels
. The signage and general get up colour of Forte Heritage hotels was dark green.
Forte Crest Hotels were more upmarket business hotels than Forte Posthouse. They were mostly located in cities and were mostly four-star. The naming convention was Forte Crest + the name of the city or locality, e.g., Forte Crest Sheffield or Forte Crest Gatwick Airport. Perhaps the most high profile hotel was the huge Forte Crest Heathrow, now a Holiday Inn. The signage and general get up colour of Crest hotels was light blue/aquamarine.
Forte Grand Hotels were a collection of high-end international hotels including the Balmoral Hotel
(formerly "The North British Hotel") in Edinburgh, the Bath Spa Hotel in Bath, the Randolph Hotel in Oxford, the Compleat Angler in Marlow and the then famous Imperial Hotel in Torquay. Following the acquisition of Le Méridien, the Fore Grand brand was dramatically cut back, with the urban hotels being transferred to the Le Méridien brand, and the remaining regional UK hotels being demoted to the Forte Heritage brand. The Balmoral Hotel
was the first hotel reacquired by Rocco Forte
following the takeover and after an extensive refurbishment it forms part of The Rocco Forte Collection
. The signage of Forte Grand hotels was bronze and the general get up colour was dark red/burgundy.
Le Méridien - this international hotel chain was acquired from Air France in 1994 and would from then on form the cornerstone of the Group's international mid/upper market offering. The general signage and get up colour of Le Méridien was grey.
The top tier of hotels were discreetly branded Exclusive Hotels by Forte, and included some of the world's most venerable 5 star hotels, for example, the George V and Plaza Athénée in Paris; Brown's, Grosvenor House and the Hyde Park Hotel in London; the Ritz in Madrid; the Westbury and Plaza Athénée in New York; Hotel des Bergues in Geneva; Hotel Eden in Rome; Sandy Lane Hotel in Barbados etc. The Savoy Group would have added to this collection and augmented its prestige, had overall control been secured, as the Forte Exclusive hotels suffered somewhat in terms of prestige by association with the rest of the group's hotels. At the time of the Granada takeover the Exclusive Hotels brand contained 21 hotels. Granada failed to find buyers for the hotels as a group and it took a significant time for them to divest these hotels to numerous different owners/operators. Some examples of the current owners/operators include Mandarin Oriental
which has the Hyde Park Hotel, London; Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts
which has the Hotel des Bergues, Geneva; Marriott International
which has the Grosvenor House Hotel
; Orient-Express Hotels
which has the Hotel Ritz, Madrid; and, notably, The Rocco Forte Collection
which has Brown's Hotel in London.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
hotel and restaurant company. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index
FTSE 100 Index
The FTSE 100 Index, also called FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the footsie , is a share index of the 100 most highly capitalised UK companies listed on the London Stock Exchange....
until it was acquired by Granada PLC.
History
Charles ForteCharles Forte, Baron Forte
Charles Forte, Baron Forte was a British caterer and hotelier. His obituary in The Guardian obituary stated that: He created a worldwide empire of restaurants and hotels from virtually nothing-Early life:...
set up his first "milk bar" on Regent Street in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
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
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, his company became Forte Holdings Ltd, and bought The Café Royal in 1954. He opened the first full motorway service station for cars at Newport Pagnell
Newport Pagnell
Newport Pagnell is a town in the Borough of Milton Keynes , England. It is separated by the M1 motorway from Milton Keynes itself, though part of the same urban area...
in 1959. Trust Houses Group Ltd and Forte Holdings merged in 1970 to become Trust Houses Forte or THF. The name was simplified to Trusthouse Forte in 1979.
Through mergers and expansion, the Forte Group expanded into a multi-billion pound business. It included the Little Chef
Little Chef
Little Chef is a chain of roadside restaurants in the United Kingdom, founded in 1958 and owned by the UK private equity group RCapital. Little Chef's previous owners were The People's Restaurant Group Ltd., a company belonging to British catering entrepreneurs Simon Heath and Lawrence Wosskow,...
and Happy Eater
Happy Eater
Happy Eater was a roadside restaurant chain in the United Kingdom, that ran from 1973 till 1996 and was notable particularly amongst a certain generation for the lego that was inside the restaurant for children to play with, and the imaginatively-shaped playground equipment outside.-History:Happy...
roadside restaurants, Crest
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....
, Forte Grand, Travelodge
Travelodge
Travelodge refers to several hotel chains around the world. Current operations include: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain, the Republic of Ireland, New Zealand and Australia...
and Posthouse hotels, Harvester restaurants, contract catering firm Gardner Merchant, the wine merchant Grierson-Blumenthal, sporting goods retailer Lillywhites
Lillywhites
Lillywhites is a sports retailer based at Piccadilly Circus, London, United Kingdom. It is currently a division of Sports Direct International.-History:...
(which adjoined the group's Criterion restaurant) and a majority (although non-controlling) stake in the Savoy Hotel
Savoy Hotel
The Savoy Hotel is a hotel located on the Strand, in the City of Westminster in central London. Built by impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan operas, the hotel opened on 6 August 1889. It was the first in the Savoy group of hotels and restaurants owned by...
. Happy Eater
Happy Eater
Happy Eater was a roadside restaurant chain in the United Kingdom, that ran from 1973 till 1996 and was notable particularly amongst a certain generation for the lego that was inside the restaurant for children to play with, and the imaginatively-shaped playground equipment outside.-History:Happy...
and the five Welcome Break
Welcome Break
Welcome Break is a company which operates thirty-five motorway service stations in the UK. It is the second largest motorway service area operator behind Moto.-History:...
service areas were bought from Hanson Trust
Hanson plc
Hanson plc is a British based international building materials company, headquartered in Maidenhead. Traded on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index for many years, the company was acquired by a division of German rival Heidelberg Cement in August 2007.-History:Hanson...
on 1 August 1986. The group for a time started to resemble a conglomerate with interests spanning the Sidgwick & Jackson
Sidgwick & Jackson
Sidgwick & Jackson is an imprint of publishing company Pan Macmillan. It was founded in Britain in 1908. Notable early Sidgwick and Jackson authors include poet Rupert Brooke and novelist E.M. Forster...
publishing house, the Terry's
Terry's
Terry's was a chocolate and confectionery maker in York, England. Its history stretched back to 1823, but in 1993 it was taken over by Kraft Foods. The York factory closed in 2005 and Terry's products are now produced in other Kraft facilities in Poland, Sweden, Belgium, and...
chocolate company, Puritan Maid and a stake in Thomas Cook
Thomas Cook
Thomas Cook of Melbourne, Derbyshire, England founded the travel agency that is now Thomas Cook Group.- Early days :...
travel agents.
Forte was the CEO from 1971 and Chairman from 1982 (when his son Sir Rocco Forte
Rocco Forte
Sir Rocco Forte is a British hotelier born in Bournemouth.After Downside School he went on to read modern languages at Pembroke College, Oxford, where he won a blue for fencing...
took over as CEO).
In the early 1990s, the company was rebranded as Forte and the crown logo was adoped at the same time. This rebranding also heralded the introduction of sub brand groups for almost all the hotels (Posthouse, Crest, Heritage, Grand etc.). Lord Forte passed full control to Rocco in 1993, but soon the Forte Group was faced with a hostile takeover bid from Granada. Ultimately, Granada succeeded with a £3.9 billion tender offer
Tender offer
Tender offer is a corporate finance term denoting a type of takeover bid. The tender offer is a public, open offer or invitation by a prospective acquirer to all stockholders of a publicly traded corporation to tender their stock for sale at a specified price during a specified time, subject to...
in January 1996, which left the family with around £350 million in cash.
In 2001, following the de-merger of Compass plc
Compass Group
Compass Group plc is a global contract foodservice and support services company headquartered near London, United Kingdom. It is the largest contract foodservice company in the world and has operations in over 50 countries...
from Granada's media interests, the use of the Forte trademark was returned to Sir Rocco Forte in a gesture intended to dispel the bitter legacy of the takeover. Rocco now owns the Rocco Forte Hotels group.
Operations
Most of the hotels used the following brands:Travelodge The Forte group acquired this US brand and rolled it out in the UK. These no frills hotels were mainly sited alongside the group's Little Chef roadside cafes. The signage and general get up colour of Travelodges was navy blue.
Forte Posthouse Hotels were mostly three-star hotels for business travellers. They were usually located in city centres or near major trunk roads. Some of these were sold to Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn is a brand of hotels, formally a economy motel chain, forming part of the British InterContinental Hotels Group . It is one of the world's largest hotel chains with 238,440 bedrooms and 1,301 hotels globally. There are currently 5 hotels in the pipeline...
. The signage and general get up colour of Posthouses was red.
Forte Heritage Hotels ranged from smaller country house style hotels, e.g., The Old England Hotel in Windermere, the Berystede in Ascot and Leeming House in Ullswater, to former coaching inns such as the Box Hill hotel, Burford Bridge and the Swan at Lavenham. In addition, the brand included some larger resort type hotels, such as the Grand Atlantic at Weston Super Mare and the Imperial Hotel, Exmouth. Some of these were sold to Macdonald Hotels Ltd
Macdonald Hotels Ltd
Macdonald Hotels Ltd is a hospitality company based in Bathgate, West Lothian, Scotland.Its main subsidiary, Macdonald Hotels and Resorts, owns or operates hotels and holiday resorts in the UK and Spain.- History :...
, others are now operated by Mercure Hotels
Mercure Hotels
Mercure Hotels are a brand of hotels run by French multinational corporation Accor.Most Mercure hotels are positioned between Ibis and Novotel in the Accor estate. There is also a five star branch of Mercures known as Grand Mercures...
. The signage and general get up colour of Forte Heritage hotels was dark green.
Forte Crest Hotels were more upmarket business hotels than Forte Posthouse. They were mostly located in cities and were mostly four-star. The naming convention was Forte Crest + the name of the city or locality, e.g., Forte Crest Sheffield or Forte Crest Gatwick Airport. Perhaps the most high profile hotel was the huge Forte Crest Heathrow, now a Holiday Inn. The signage and general get up colour of Crest hotels was light blue/aquamarine.
Forte Grand Hotels were a collection of high-end international hotels including the Balmoral Hotel
Balmoral Hotel
The Balmoral is a luxury five-star hotel and landmark in Edinburgh, Scotland, known as the North British Hotel until the late 1980s. It is located in the heart of the city at the east end of Princes Street, the main shopping street beneath the Edinburgh Castle rock, and the southern edge of the New...
(formerly "The North British Hotel") in Edinburgh, the Bath Spa Hotel in Bath, the Randolph Hotel in Oxford, the Compleat Angler in Marlow and the then famous Imperial Hotel in Torquay. Following the acquisition of Le Méridien, the Fore Grand brand was dramatically cut back, with the urban hotels being transferred to the Le Méridien brand, and the remaining regional UK hotels being demoted to the Forte Heritage brand. The Balmoral Hotel
Balmoral Hotel
The Balmoral is a luxury five-star hotel and landmark in Edinburgh, Scotland, known as the North British Hotel until the late 1980s. It is located in the heart of the city at the east end of Princes Street, the main shopping street beneath the Edinburgh Castle rock, and the southern edge of the New...
was the first hotel reacquired by Rocco Forte
Rocco Forte
Sir Rocco Forte is a British hotelier born in Bournemouth.After Downside School he went on to read modern languages at Pembroke College, Oxford, where he won a blue for fencing...
following the takeover and after an extensive refurbishment it forms part of The Rocco Forte Collection
The Rocco Forte Collection
The Rocco Forte Collection is a family of 13 hotels and resorts across Europe.As brand of Rocco Forte & Family PLC, the company owns and part-owns luxury five-star hotels...
. The signage of Forte Grand hotels was bronze and the general get up colour was dark red/burgundy.
Le Méridien - this international hotel chain was acquired from Air France in 1994 and would from then on form the cornerstone of the Group's international mid/upper market offering. The general signage and get up colour of Le Méridien was grey.
The top tier of hotels were discreetly branded Exclusive Hotels by Forte, and included some of the world's most venerable 5 star hotels, for example, the George V and Plaza Athénée in Paris; Brown's, Grosvenor House and the Hyde Park Hotel in London; the Ritz in Madrid; the Westbury and Plaza Athénée in New York; Hotel des Bergues in Geneva; Hotel Eden in Rome; Sandy Lane Hotel in Barbados etc. The Savoy Group would have added to this collection and augmented its prestige, had overall control been secured, as the Forte Exclusive hotels suffered somewhat in terms of prestige by association with the rest of the group's hotels. At the time of the Granada takeover the Exclusive Hotels brand contained 21 hotels. Granada failed to find buyers for the hotels as a group and it took a significant time for them to divest these hotels to numerous different owners/operators. Some examples of the current owners/operators include Mandarin Oriental
Mandarin Oriental
Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group , a member of the Jardine Matheson Group, is an international hotel investment and management group with luxury hotels, resorts and residences in Asia, Europe and the Americas...
which has the Hyde Park Hotel, London; Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts
Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts
Four Seasons Hotels, Inc. is a Canadian-based international ultra-luxury, five-star hotel management company. Travel + Leisure magazine and Zagat Survey rank the hotel chain's 84 properties among the top luxury hotels worldwide...
which has the Hotel des Bergues, Geneva; Marriott International
Marriott International
Marriott International, Inc. is a worldwide operator and franchisor of a broad portfolio of hotels and related lodging facilities. Founded by J. Willard Marriott, the company is now led by son J.W. Marriott, Jr...
which has the Grosvenor House Hotel
Grosvenor House Hotel
Grosvenor House is a large and luxurious hotel. The iconic Mayfair, London hotel is owned by the Sahara Group. The name has also been licensed to a property in Dubai....
; Orient-Express Hotels
Orient-Express Hotels
Orient-Express Hotels Ltd is a hotel and leisure company that operates high end hotels, cruise and train services around the world. As of 2008 it owns or partly owns more than 40 individual deluxe hotels, three restaurants, six tourist trains and two river cruise businesses in more than 25...
which has the Hotel Ritz, Madrid; and, notably, The Rocco Forte Collection
The Rocco Forte Collection
The Rocco Forte Collection is a family of 13 hotels and resorts across Europe.As brand of Rocco Forte & Family PLC, the company owns and part-owns luxury five-star hotels...
which has Brown's Hotel in London.