Hugh Wontner
Encyclopedia
Sir Hugh Walter Kingwell Wontner GBE
, CVO
, (22 October 1908 – 25 November 1992) was an English hotelier and politician. He was managing director of the Savoy
hotel group from 1941 to 1979 and its chairman from 1948 to 1984, continuing as president until his death. He was also chairman of the Savoy Theatre
from 1948 until his death. In 1973–74, he was Lord Mayor of London
.
Wontner was appointed general secretary of the Hotels and Restaurants Association of Great Britain in 1933 at the age of 25. He shepherded the Savoy hotel group properties through the difficult World War II
years, restoring their lustre after the war, and successfully preserved the group's independence against take-over bids in the 1950s, 1970s and 1980s. As chairman of the Savoy Theatre
, he personally supervised its rebuilding after it was destroyed by fire in 1990.
Wontner was closely involved in the City of London
as a leading member of two of its ancient guilds
and as alderman
, chief magistrate and Lord Mayor. He was knighted in 1972.
and his first wife, the actress Rose Pendennis, whose real name was Rosecleer Alice Amelia Blanche, née Kingwell. He was born Hugh Walter Kingwell Wontner Smith, but his father changed the family name in 1909, dropping the "Smith". Wontner was educated at Oundle School
and in France, but was not, he said later, an academic pupil.
After working in the Hôtel Meurice
in Paris, Wontner joined the secretariat of the London Chamber of Commerce from 1927 to 1933. In 1933, at the age of 25, he was appointed general secretary of the Hotels and Restaurants Association of Great Britain. In 1936 Wontner married Catherine Irvin. They had two sons and one daughter.
, managing director of the Savoy hotel group, who was the association's founder chairman. Reeves-Smith was impressed by Wontner's administrative abilities, and, as The Times
noted, "the young man had other qualities also which appealed to the veteran managing director: a discerning palate for wines, a taste for travel, and a consuming passion for the theatre.... Wontner must have seemed ideal Savoy material." In 1938 he invited Wontner to join the group as his assistant. When Reeves-Smith died at the age of 77 in May 1941, Rupert D'Oyly Carte
, the Savoy chairman, had no doubts about the succession and appointed the 32-year-old Wontner as managing director of the Savoy group, which included the Berkeley
and Claridges hotels as well as the Savoy.
Carte died in 1948, and as his heir, Bridget D'Oyly Carte
, did not wish to become chairman, the Savoy board elected Wontner, the first person to combine the roles of chairman and managing director since the Savoy's founder, Richard D'Oyly Carte
. Wontner remained managing director until 1979 and chairman until 1984. He was elected life president of the group in 1990.
When Wontner took over, World War II
was at its height, and he and his staff had to cope with bomb damage, food rationing, manpower shortage, and, at first, a serious decline in the number of foreign visitors. After the U.S. entered the war, business picked up as the Savoy Hotel became a favourite of American officers, diplomats, journalists and others. The hotel became a meeting place for war leaders: Lord Mountbatten, Charles de Gaulle
, Jan Masaryk
and General Wavell were among the regular Grill Room diners, and the hotel's air-raid shelters were "the smartest in London". Wontner co-operated fully with the government's wartime restrictions, helping to draw up an order imposing a five shilling limit on the price of a restaurant meal and advising the government on managing the change from wartime rationing to peacetime conditions.
After the war, Wontner set about restoring the standards of the Savoy group to their pre-war glory, investing a great deal of capital in repairing war damage, upgrading facilities and enhancing the prestige of the hotels in the group. Under his control Claridges became a home in London for numerous statesmen, from President Tito
and King Hussein
to Gandhi, while the Savoy attracted such show business stars as Frank Sinatra
and Sophia Loren
and was visited by British royalty including George VI
and Elizabeth II
. Under Wontner's leadership, the group bought the Connaught Hotel in 1956, and in the early 1960s decided to relocate the Berkeley from Piccadilly
to new premises in Knightsbridge
for an opening in 1972. Wontner was cautious about expanding the Savoy group internationally, concerned that over-expansion might prejudice standards, but in 1970 he added the Lancaster Hotel in Paris to the group.
Throughout his career, according to The Times, "Wontner was admired by business associates for his acumen, integrity and loyalty while being accused by his critics of aloofness and arrogance. Beneath a genial manner there certainly lay steely determination and a fair degree of ruthlessness." Under his leadership, the Savoy group successfully fought off several hostile takeover bids using, on occasion, controversial stratagems to defeat the bidder. In 1953 the entrepreneur Charles Clore
attempted to buy the Savoy group, and when his bid was rejected he sold his shares to the property developer Harold Samuel
, who planned to redevelop the Piccadilly site of the Berkeley Hotel. Wontner temporarily transferred possession of the freehold of the Berkeley from the Savoy group to its staff pension fund until the bid was withdrawn.
After this first attempted takeover, Wontner insured against future bids by issuing new shares in the group which carried 40 times as many votes each as the normal shares. These special shares were held by Bridget D'Oyly Carte, Wontner and their allies. The financial magazine The Economist
found this ploy outrageous: "On grounds of principle, it is difficult to find condemnation too severe for what the Savoy Hotel board have done. They have taken, without the consent of their shareholders, a valuable property in which the shareholders have an equity and of which the best use is open to dispute. They have made it impossible for the shareholders ... to exert any control in future over the disposition of that property." Nevertheless, Wontner's share structure enabled the board to defeat later takeover bids by Trafalgar House
and Trusthouse Forte. During the latter, Charles Forte
managed to acquire 69 per cent of the group's shares, but only 42 per cent of the voting rights, and was furious at being outwitted by Wontner, whom he accused of having "a great gift for supercilious indifference". Having thwarted this final takeover bid, Wontner retired from his executive roles and accepted the position of president of the Savoy group.
of the City Corporation, chief magistrate and, in 1973–74, Lord Mayor
. He advised the royal household on its catering at Buckingham Palace
and elsewhere, and in 1953 was appointed Clerk of the Royal Kitchens – the first holder of the post since the early nineteenth century. He also inherited his father's love of the theatre and served as a member of the board of trustees of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
and of the committee of the Barbican Centre
. He was proud of being a member of the Old Stagers
, England's oldest amateur dramatic society, and of his association with the Savoy Theatre
, of which he was chairman and managing director from 1948 until his death. When the theatre was destroyed by fire in 1990 Wontner personally supervised the reconstruction. The topping-out ceremony gave him great pleasure, and only a few days before his death he was looking forward to presiding over the re-opening in 1993.
He was the recipient of many international honours, including Honorary Citizen of St Emilion, 1974; Freeman of the Seychelles, 1974; Order of Cisneros (Spain), 1964; Officer, L'Etoile Equatoriale (Gabon), 1970; Médaille de Vermeil, City of Paris, 1972; Ordre de l'Etoile Civique (France), 1972; Officier du Mérite Agricole (France), 1973; Commander, National Order of the Leopard (Zaire), 1974; Knight Commander, Order of the Dannebrog
(Denmark), 1974; Order of the Crown of Malaysia
, 1974; Knight Commander, Royal Swedish Order of the Polar Star, 1980; and a Knight of the Venerable Order of Saint John
, 1973. His British honours were MVO 1950, CVO
1969, Knight bachelor
1972, and GBE
1974.
Wontner died of a heart attack in London, aged 84.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, CVO
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
, (22 October 1908 – 25 November 1992) was an English hotelier and politician. He was managing director of the Savoy
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...
hotel group from 1941 to 1979 and its chairman from 1948 to 1984, continuing as president until his death. He was also chairman of the Savoy Theatre
Savoy Theatre
The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre located in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre opened on 10 October 1881 and was built by Richard D'Oyly Carte on the site of the old Savoy Palace as a showcase for the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan,...
from 1948 until his death. In 1973–74, he was Lord Mayor of London
Lord Mayor of London
The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of London is the legal title for the Mayor of the City of London Corporation. The Lord Mayor of London is to be distinguished from the Mayor of London; the former is an officer only of the City of London, while the Mayor of London is the Mayor of Greater London and...
.
Wontner was appointed general secretary of the Hotels and Restaurants Association of Great Britain in 1933 at the age of 25. He shepherded the Savoy hotel group properties through the difficult World War II
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...
years, restoring their lustre after the war, and successfully preserved the group's independence against take-over bids in the 1950s, 1970s and 1980s. As chairman of the Savoy Theatre
Savoy Theatre
The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre located in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre opened on 10 October 1881 and was built by Richard D'Oyly Carte on the site of the old Savoy Palace as a showcase for the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan,...
, he personally supervised its rebuilding after it was destroyed by fire in 1990.
Wontner was closely involved in the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
as a leading member of two of its ancient guilds
Livery Company
The Livery Companies are 108 trade associations in the City of London, almost all of which are known as the "Worshipful Company of" the relevant trade, craft or profession. The medieval Companies originally developed as guilds and were responsible for the regulation of their trades, controlling,...
and as alderman
Alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...
, chief magistrate and Lord Mayor. He was knighted in 1972.
Early years
Wontner was the elder son of the actor-manager Arthur WontnerArthur Wontner
Arthur Wontner was a British actor best known for playing Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's master detective Sherlock Holmes in five films from 1931 to 1937...
and his first wife, the actress Rose Pendennis, whose real name was Rosecleer Alice Amelia Blanche, née Kingwell. He was born Hugh Walter Kingwell Wontner Smith, but his father changed the family name in 1909, dropping the "Smith". Wontner was educated at Oundle School
Oundle School
Oundle School is a co-educational British public school located in the ancient market town of Oundle in Northamptonshire. The school has been maintained by the Worshipful Company of Grocers of the City of London since its foundation in 1556. Oundle has eight boys' houses, five girls' houses, a day...
and in France, but was not, he said later, an academic pupil.
After working in the Hôtel Meurice
Hotel Meurice
Le Meurice is a 5-star hotel in Paris, located opposite the Tuileries Garden, between Place de la Concorde and the Musée du Louvre. This hotel is owned and managed by the Dorchester Collection...
in Paris, Wontner joined the secretariat of the London Chamber of Commerce from 1927 to 1933. In 1933, at the age of 25, he was appointed general secretary of the Hotels and Restaurants Association of Great Britain. In 1936 Wontner married Catherine Irvin. They had two sons and one daughter.
Savoy Group
Wontner's work with the Hotels and Restaurants Association brought him into close contact with Sir George Reeves-SmithGeorge Reeves-Smith
Sir George Reeves-Smith was an English hotelier. Hired by Richard D'Oyly Carte in 1900 to replace César Ritz as manager of the Savoy Hotel, he remained in the post until his death four decades later. In addition to running the Savoy, he was general manager of the other hotels and restaurants in...
, managing director of the Savoy hotel group, who was the association's founder chairman. Reeves-Smith was impressed by Wontner's administrative abilities, and, as The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
noted, "the young man had other qualities also which appealed to the veteran managing director: a discerning palate for wines, a taste for travel, and a consuming passion for the theatre.... Wontner must have seemed ideal Savoy material." In 1938 he invited Wontner to join the group as his assistant. When Reeves-Smith died at the age of 77 in May 1941, Rupert D'Oyly Carte
Rupert D'Oyly Carte
Rupert D'Oyly Carte was an English hotelier, theatre owner and impresario, best known as proprietor of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and Savoy Hotel from 1913 to 1948....
, the Savoy chairman, had no doubts about the succession and appointed the 32-year-old Wontner as managing director of the Savoy group, which included the Berkeley
The Berkeley
The Berkeley is a five star deluxe hotel, located in Wilton Place, Knightsbridge, London. It is managed by Maybourne Hotel Group, who also manage Claridge's and The Connaught in Mayfair, London.-Description:...
and Claridges hotels as well as the Savoy.
Bridget D'Oyly Carte
Dame Bridget Cicely D'Oyly Carte, DBE , was the granddaughter of impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte and the only daughter of Rupert D'Oyly Carte...
, did not wish to become chairman, the Savoy board elected Wontner, the first person to combine the roles of chairman and managing director since the Savoy's founder, Richard D'Oyly Carte
Richard D'Oyly Carte
Richard D'Oyly Carte was an English talent agent, theatrical impresario, composer and hotelier during the latter half of the Victorian era...
. Wontner remained managing director until 1979 and chairman until 1984. He was elected life president of the group in 1990.
When Wontner took over, World War II
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...
was at its height, and he and his staff had to cope with bomb damage, food rationing, manpower shortage, and, at first, a serious decline in the number of foreign visitors. After the U.S. entered the war, business picked up as the Savoy Hotel became a favourite of American officers, diplomats, journalists and others. The hotel became a meeting place for war leaders: Lord Mountbatten, Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
, Jan Masaryk
Jan Masaryk
Jan Garrigue Masaryk was a Czech diplomat and politician and Foreign Minister of Czechoslovakia from 1940 to 1948.- Early life :...
and General Wavell were among the regular Grill Room diners, and the hotel's air-raid shelters were "the smartest in London". Wontner co-operated fully with the government's wartime restrictions, helping to draw up an order imposing a five shilling limit on the price of a restaurant meal and advising the government on managing the change from wartime rationing to peacetime conditions.
After the war, Wontner set about restoring the standards of the Savoy group to their pre-war glory, investing a great deal of capital in repairing war damage, upgrading facilities and enhancing the prestige of the hotels in the group. Under his control Claridges became a home in London for numerous statesmen, from President Tito
Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
and King Hussein
Hussein of Jordan
Hussein bin Talal was the third King of Jordan from the abdication of his father, King Talal, in 1952, until his death. Hussein's rule extended through the Cold War and four decades of Arab-Israeli conflict...
to Gandhi, while the Savoy attracted such show business stars as Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
and Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren, OMRI is an Italian actress.In 1962, Loren won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Two Women, along with 21 awards, becoming the first actress to win an Academy Award for a non-English-speaking performance...
and was visited by British royalty including George VI
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
and Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
. Under Wontner's leadership, the group bought the Connaught Hotel in 1956, and in the early 1960s decided to relocate the Berkeley from Piccadilly
Piccadilly
Piccadilly is a major street in central London, running from Hyde Park Corner in the west to Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is completely within the city of Westminster. The street is part of the A4 road, London's second most important western artery. St...
to new premises in Knightsbridge
Knightsbridge
Knightsbridge is a road which gives its name to an exclusive district lying to the west of central London. The road runs along the south side of Hyde Park, west from Hyde Park Corner, spanning the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...
for an opening in 1972. Wontner was cautious about expanding the Savoy group internationally, concerned that over-expansion might prejudice standards, but in 1970 he added the Lancaster Hotel in Paris to the group.
Business methods
Charles Clore
Sir Charles Clore was a British financier, retail and property magnate and philanthropist.-Career:Charles Clore owned, through Sears Holdings, the British Shoe Corporation and Selfridges department store, as well as investing heavily in property.He owned Jowett Cars Ltd from 1945-1947 where he was...
attempted to buy the Savoy group, and when his bid was rejected he sold his shares to the property developer Harold Samuel
Harold Samuel, Baron Samuel of Wych Cross
Harold Samuel, Baron Samuel of Wych Cross was the founder of Land Securities, one of the United Kingdom's largest property companies.-Career:...
, who planned to redevelop the Piccadilly site of the Berkeley Hotel. Wontner temporarily transferred possession of the freehold of the Berkeley from the Savoy group to its staff pension fund until the bid was withdrawn.
After this first attempted takeover, Wontner insured against future bids by issuing new shares in the group which carried 40 times as many votes each as the normal shares. These special shares were held by Bridget D'Oyly Carte, Wontner and their allies. The financial magazine The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
found this ploy outrageous: "On grounds of principle, it is difficult to find condemnation too severe for what the Savoy Hotel board have done. They have taken, without the consent of their shareholders, a valuable property in which the shareholders have an equity and of which the best use is open to dispute. They have made it impossible for the shareholders ... to exert any control in future over the disposition of that property." Nevertheless, Wontner's share structure enabled the board to defeat later takeover bids by Trafalgar House
Trafalgar House (company)
Trafalgar House Public Limited Company was a British conglomerate with interests in property investment, property development, engineering, construction, shipping, hotels, energy and publishing...
and Trusthouse Forte. During the latter, Charles Forte
Charles 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:...
managed to acquire 69 per cent of the group's shares, but only 42 per cent of the voting rights, and was furious at being outwitted by Wontner, whom he accused of having "a great gift for supercilious indifference". Having thwarted this final takeover bid, Wontner retired from his executive roles and accepted the position of president of the Savoy group.
Other interests and honours
Wontner had many other interests, prominent among which was the City of London, where he was at various times the Master of two Livery Companies, an aldermanAlderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...
of the City Corporation, chief magistrate and, in 1973–74, Lord Mayor
Lord Mayor of London
The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of London is the legal title for the Mayor of the City of London Corporation. The Lord Mayor of London is to be distinguished from the Mayor of London; the former is an officer only of the City of London, while the Mayor of London is the Mayor of Greater London and...
. He advised the royal household on its catering at Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
and elsewhere, and in 1953 was appointed Clerk of the Royal Kitchens – the first holder of the post since the early nineteenth century. He also inherited his father's love of the theatre and served as a member of the board of trustees of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company was a professional light opera company that staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas. The company performed nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere, from the 1870s until it closed in 1982. It was revived in 1988 and...
and of the committee of the Barbican Centre
Barbican Centre
The Barbican Centre is the largest performing arts centre in Europe. Located in the City of London, England, the Centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhibitions. It also houses a library, three restaurants, and a conservatory...
. He was proud of being a member of the Old Stagers
Old Stagers
The Old Stagers is an amateur theatre group, founded in 1842 by Hon. Frederick Ponsonby and Charles Taylor. It claims to be the oldest surviving amateur dramatic company in the world, having staged its first shows in Canterbury in 1842. It has continued to give annual performances every year...
, England's oldest amateur dramatic society, and of his association with the Savoy Theatre
Savoy Theatre
The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre located in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre opened on 10 October 1881 and was built by Richard D'Oyly Carte on the site of the old Savoy Palace as a showcase for the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan,...
, of which he was chairman and managing director from 1948 until his death. When the theatre was destroyed by fire in 1990 Wontner personally supervised the reconstruction. The topping-out ceremony gave him great pleasure, and only a few days before his death he was looking forward to presiding over the re-opening in 1993.
He was the recipient of many international honours, including Honorary Citizen of St Emilion, 1974; Freeman of the Seychelles, 1974; Order of Cisneros (Spain), 1964; Officer, L'Etoile Equatoriale (Gabon), 1970; Médaille de Vermeil, City of Paris, 1972; Ordre de l'Etoile Civique (France), 1972; Officier du Mérite Agricole (France), 1973; Commander, National Order of the Leopard (Zaire), 1974; Knight Commander, Order of the Dannebrog
Order of the Dannebrog
The Order of the Dannebrog is an Order of Denmark, instituted in 1671 by Christian V. It resulted from a move in 1660 to break the absolutism of the nobility. The Order was only to comprise 50 noble Knights in one class plus the Master of the Order, i.e. the Danish monarch, and his sons...
(Denmark), 1974; Order of the Crown of Malaysia
Order of the Crown of Malaysia
The Most Esteemed Order of the Crown of Malaysia is a Malaysian federal award presented for meritorious service to the country. The order was instituted on 15 April 1966. The order has three ranks:...
, 1974; Knight Commander, Royal Swedish Order of the Polar Star, 1980; and a Knight of the Venerable Order of Saint John
Venerable Order of Saint John
The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem , is a royal order of chivalry established in 1831 and found today throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Hong Kong, Ireland and the United States of America, with the world-wide mission "to prevent and relieve sickness and...
, 1973. His British honours were MVO 1950, CVO
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
1969, Knight bachelor
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
1972, and GBE
GBE
GBE or Gbe may refer to:* Gbe languages, a group of languages in West Africa* Gigabit ethernet, a term for transmitting Ethernet frames at a rate of a gigabit per second* Government business enterprise...
1974.
Wontner died of a heart attack in London, aged 84.