Charles Forte, Baron Forte

Charles Forte, Baron Forte (born November 26th 1908) is a famous hotelier born in Italy.

Related Topics:
1908 - Italy

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Forte emigrated from Italy to Scotland and attended the Dumfries College. He worked in a cafe chain owned by his father, then at 26 set up his first "milk bar" in 1935 as Strand Milk Bar Ltd. Soon he began expanding into catering and hotel businesses. After the war, his company became Forte Holdings Ltd, and bought the Cafe 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 were merged in 1970 to become THF.

Related Topics:
Scotland - Newport Pagnell

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Through mergers and expansion, Forte converted the Forte group into a multi-billion pound business. His group included the Little Chef and Happy Eater roadside restaurants as well as Crest, Forte Grand, Travelodge and Posthouse hotels. Forte was the CEO from 1971 and Chairman from 1982 (when his son Rocco Forte took over as CEO). Happy Eater and the five Welcome Break service areas were bought from Hanson Trust PLC on August 1st 1986.

Related Topics:
Little Chef - Happy Eater - Crest - Forte Grand - Travelodge - Posthouse - 1971 - 1982 - Rocco Forte - Welcome Break

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Lord Forte passed the full control to Rocco in 1993, but soon the Forte group was faced with a hostile take-over attempt by Granada. Ultimately rival Granada succeeded with a 3.8 billion pound tender offer in August 1995.

Related Topics:
1993 - Granada

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Charles Forte was awarded a life peerage in 1982 as Baron Forte of Ripley in the County of Surrey.

Related Topics:
Life peerage - 1982

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