Shell Mex House
Encyclopedia
Shell Mex House is situated at number 80, Strand, London
, UK. The current building was built in 1930-31 on the site of the Hotel Cecil
and stands behind the original facade of the Hotel and between the Adelphi
and the Savoy Hotel
. Broadly Art Deco
in style, it was designed by the architectural firm of Messrs Joseph, with F. Milton Cashmore responsible for most of the work.
Standing 58 m (190 ft) tall, with 537000 sq ft (49,888.9 m²) of floor space, Shell Mex House has 12 floors (plus basement and sub-basement) and is immediately recognizable from the River Thames
and the South Bank
by the clock tower positioned on the south side of the building (flanked by two large, hieratic
figures at the south corners). The clock, which was known for a time as "Big Benzene", is one of the biggest in London. It is known for its face looking towards the river, but also has a face looking towards the Strand. In the words of architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner
, the building "is thoroughly unsubtle, but succeeds in holding its own in London's river front."
The building was for many years the London headquarters of Shell-Mex and BP Ltd for whom it was originally built. Shell-Mex and BP Ltd was a Joint Venture
company created by Shell
and British Petroleum
in 1932 when they decided to merge their United Kingdom marketing operations. Upon the brand separation of Shell-Mex and BP Ltd in 1975, Shell Mex House became the head office of Shell UK Ltd, which was Shell's UK operating company. Changes in the way that Shell was run in the 1990s led to the disposal of the property by Shell. Today, simply known as 80 Strand, most of its floors are occupied by companies belonging to Pearson PLC
, who use it as their registered office, including Mergermarket
, Penguin Books
, Dorling Kindersley
, Hamish Hamilton
, Michael Joseph and Rough Guides
.
Other notable businesses in this building are Groupe Aeroplan, which manages the Nectar loyalty card
, and PricewaterhouseCoopers
.
The entrance of the building, which is set back from the Strand, is through a large gated archway. A green plaque was affixed to the wall just inside the gate in March 2008, proclaiming: The Royal Air force was formed and had its first headquarters here in the former Hotel Cecil 1 April 1918. Below it is a brass plate stating: This plaque was unveiled by the chief of air staff Air Chief Marshall Sir Glenn Torpy KCB CBE DSO ADC to mark the 90th anniversary of the formation of the Royal Air Force.
During the Second World War, the building became home to the Ministry of Supply which co-ordinated supply of equipment to the national armed forces. It was also the home of the "Petroleum Board" which handled the distribution and rationing
of petroleum products during the war. It was badly damaged by a bomb in 1940. The building reverted to Shell-Mex and BP Ltd on 1 July 1948 with a number of floors remaining occupied by the Ministry of Aviation (latterly the Board of Trade, Civil Aviation Division) until the mid-1970s.
On 17 May 2006 The Times
reported
that the building was for sale and that the Indian-Kenyan Kandhari family were the front-runners in the battle to buy it from the present owners, Vincent and Robert Tchenguiz
. It was said that they had offered £530 million for the building but were competing with other interested groups, including Menorah, the Israeli insurer, an Irish company, and several British companies. An offer believed to be £520 million ($1.02 billion) was made in December 2006 by Istithmar, the investment agency of the Dubai government, who withdrew their offer before completion. The property was subsequently sold in July 2007 to a fund managed by Westbrook Partners.
Strand, London
Strand is a street in the City of Westminster, London, England. The street is just over three-quarters of a mile long. It currently starts at Trafalgar Square and runs east to join Fleet Street at Temple Bar, which marks the boundary of the City of London at this point, though its historical length...
, UK. The current building was built in 1930-31 on the site of the Hotel Cecil
Hotel Cecil (London)
The Hotel Cecil was a grand hotel built 1890–96 between the Thames Embankment and the Strand in London, England. It was named after Cecil House , a mansion belonging to the Cecil family, which occupied the site in the 17th century.Designed by architects Perry & Reed in a "Wrenaissance" style, the...
and stands behind the original facade of the Hotel and between the Adelphi
Adelphi, London
Adelphi is a district of London, England in the City of Westminster. The small district includes the streets of Adelphi Terrace, Robert Street and John Adam Street.-Adelphi Buildings:...
and 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...
. Broadly Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
in style, it was designed by the architectural firm of Messrs Joseph, with F. Milton Cashmore responsible for most of the work.
Standing 58 m (190 ft) tall, with 537000 sq ft (49,888.9 m²) of floor space, Shell Mex House has 12 floors (plus basement and sub-basement) and is immediately recognizable from the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
and the South Bank
South Bank
South Bank is an area of London, England located immediately adjacent to the south side of the River Thames. It forms a long and narrow section of riverside development that is within the London Borough of Lambeth to the border with the London Borough of Southwark and was formerly simply known as...
by the clock tower positioned on the south side of the building (flanked by two large, hieratic
Hieratic
Hieratic refers to a cursive writing system that was used in the provenance of the pharaohs in Egypt and Nubia that developed alongside the hieroglyphic system, to which it is intimately related...
figures at the south corners). The clock, which was known for a time as "Big Benzene", is one of the biggest in London. It is known for its face looking towards the river, but also has a face looking towards the Strand. In the words of architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...
, the building "is thoroughly unsubtle, but succeeds in holding its own in London's river front."
The building was for many years the London headquarters of Shell-Mex and BP Ltd for whom it was originally built. Shell-Mex and BP Ltd was a Joint Venture
Joint venture
A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...
company created by Shell
Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...
and British Petroleum
BP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
in 1932 when they decided to merge their United Kingdom marketing operations. Upon the brand separation of Shell-Mex and BP Ltd in 1975, Shell Mex House became the head office of Shell UK Ltd, which was Shell's UK operating company. Changes in the way that Shell was run in the 1990s led to the disposal of the property by Shell. Today, simply known as 80 Strand, most of its floors are occupied by companies belonging to Pearson PLC
Pearson PLC
Pearson plc is a global media and education company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is both the largest education company and the largest book publisher in the world, with consumer imprints including Penguin, Dorling Kindersley and Ladybird...
, who use it as their registered office, including Mergermarket
Mergermarket
The Mergermarket Group is a financial information company owned by The Financial Times Group. With regional head offices in London, New York, and Hong Kong and over 250 journalists in 63 locations worldwide, The Mergermarket Group provides proprietary intelligence and historical data via a range of...
, Penguin Books
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...
, Dorling Kindersley
Dorling Kindersley
Dorling Kindersley is an international publishing company specializing in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 51 languages. It is currently part of the Penguin Group....
, Hamish Hamilton
Hamish Hamilton
Hamish Hamilton Limited was a British book publishing house, founded in 1931 eponymously by the half-Scot half-American Jamie Hamilton . Confusingly, Jamie Hamilton was often referred to as Hamish Hamilton...
, Michael Joseph and Rough Guides
Rough Guides
Rough Guides Ltd is a travel guidebook and reference publisher, owned by Pearson PLC. Their travel titles cover more than 200 destinations, and are distributed worldwide through the Penguin Group...
.
Other notable businesses in this building are Groupe Aeroplan, which manages the Nectar loyalty card
Nectar loyalty card
Nectar is a loyalty card scheme in the United Kingdom comprising partner companies including the supermarket chain Sainsbury's, American Express, and BP. A separate Nectar program operates in Italy....
, and PricewaterhouseCoopers
PricewaterhouseCoopers
PricewaterhouseCoopers is a global professional services firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest professional services firm measured by revenues and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms....
.
The entrance of the building, which is set back from the Strand, is through a large gated archway. A green plaque was affixed to the wall just inside the gate in March 2008, proclaiming: The Royal Air force was formed and had its first headquarters here in the former Hotel Cecil 1 April 1918. Below it is a brass plate stating: This plaque was unveiled by the chief of air staff Air Chief Marshall Sir Glenn Torpy KCB CBE DSO ADC to mark the 90th anniversary of the formation of the Royal Air Force.
During the Second World War, the building became home to the Ministry of Supply which co-ordinated supply of equipment to the national armed forces. It was also the home of the "Petroleum Board" which handled the distribution and rationing
Rationing
Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, or services. Rationing controls the size of the ration, one's allotted portion of the resources being distributed on a particular day or at a particular time.- In economics :...
of petroleum products during the war. It was badly damaged by a bomb in 1940. The building reverted to Shell-Mex and BP Ltd on 1 July 1948 with a number of floors remaining occupied by the Ministry of Aviation (latterly the Board of Trade, Civil Aviation Division) until the mid-1970s.
On 17 May 2006 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...
reported
that the building was for sale and that the Indian-Kenyan Kandhari family were the front-runners in the battle to buy it from the present owners, Vincent and Robert Tchenguiz
Robert Tchenguiz
Robert Tchenguiz, born 9 September 1960, and his older brother, Vincent Tchenguiz, are British businessmen.Vincent Tchenguiz, a British entrepreneur born in October 1956, is a native of Tehran. He hails from an Iraqi-Jewish background. His family left Iraq in 1948 and settled in Iran...
. It was said that they had offered £530 million for the building but were competing with other interested groups, including Menorah, the Israeli insurer, an Irish company, and several British companies. An offer believed to be £520 million ($1.02 billion) was made in December 2006 by Istithmar, the investment agency of the Dubai government, who withdrew their offer before completion. The property was subsequently sold in July 2007 to a fund managed by Westbrook Partners.