← Older revision
Revision as of 21:53, 18 January 2013
(One intermediate revision not shown)
Line 1:
Line 1:
-
'''1958''' - Sam Alper
, the man who started up the Sprite touring caravan company,
and Peter Merchant, the Merchant
in Gardner Merchant catering, join forces
.
Peter has been in the USA and was
inspired by the
Diner caravans he had seen there
and,
in particular the "Little Chef" model 10-stool
diner
from
Leedy, Oklahoma, manufactured by Valentine
Manufacturing,
Wichita, Kansas.
Thus they created an 11 seat diner caravan in
the
UK in Reading which
opened in 1958 and was
named "Little Chef" after
the
USA one that inspired it. Many more were planned but, due to planning restrictions it was several years until
the
next site at Camberley in Surrey opened
.
+
'''1958''' -
British Caravan manufacturer
Sam Alper and
catering boss
Peter Merchant
had both been touring the USA
,
Alper to promote his Sprite caravan to
the
American Market and
Merchant
to seek new ideas for his business
.
It seems that both were
inspired by the
concept of the American roadside diner: its compact, transportable structure that could be moved around
and
its increasing popularity thanks to the growing ease of long distance motor travel. They joined forces and used their collective skills to produce a British version
,
based on a
diner
that they saw in
Leedy, Oklahoma
called “Little Chef”
, manufactured by Valentine
Industries of
Wichita, Kansas.
They decided that this would be
the
perfect name for their venture too and Alper’s British-built version of the “Little Chef”
opened
on Oxford Road, Reading
in 1958
. The red
and
white painted cabin
was
located in
the
car park of
the
former Rex Cinema and had 11 seats
.
'''Trusthouses/ Forte ownership'''
'''Trusthouses/ Forte ownership'''
Line 6:
Line 6:
'''1965''' - By this time, Little Chef has 12 sites including one in Hyde Park.
'''1965''' - By this time, Little Chef has 12 sites including one in Hyde Park.
+
+
'''1970''' - Little Chef have 44 sites.
'''1970s''' - By 1970, Trusthouses Group merges with Forte to become Trust House Forte. Two important Trusthouse people leave at this point. Allen Jones, the first Little Chef MD and Michael Pickard, the former MD of Trusthouses both decide not to be part of the new group and instead start their own Little Chef Rivals.
'''1970s''' - By 1970, Trusthouses Group merges with Forte to become Trust House Forte. Two important Trusthouse people leave at this point. Allen Jones, the first Little Chef MD and Michael Pickard, the former MD of Trusthouses both decide not to be part of the new group and instead start their own Little Chef Rivals.
Line 24:
Line 26:
'''1977''' - [[Happy Eater]] is doing well yet Little Chef is losing money.
'''1977''' - [[Happy Eater]] is doing well yet Little Chef is losing money.
+
+
'''1977''' - Little Chef introduces the Jubilee Pancake to celebrate 25 years of Queen Elizabeth II.
+
+
'''1980''' - Little Chef start the 1980s with 171 sites.
'''1980''' - [[Happy Eater]], now with 21 restaurants is taken over by Imperial Group. They already have some Motorway Services Areas (MSAs) that they purchased from Ross Frozen Foods and rebrand the Motoross Chain as Welcome Break having acquired the name through the Happy Eater purchase. They waste no time in putting Happy Eater restaurants into some of the MSAs, something Forte also does putting Little Chef into some of their THF branded large service area sites.
'''1980''' - [[Happy Eater]], now with 21 restaurants is taken over by Imperial Group. They already have some Motorway Services Areas (MSAs) that they purchased from Ross Frozen Foods and rebrand the Motoross Chain as Welcome Break having acquired the name through the Happy Eater purchase. They waste no time in putting Happy Eater restaurants into some of the MSAs, something Forte also does putting Little Chef into some of their THF branded large service area sites.
+
+
'''1982''' - By now Little Chef have opened their first motorway site at the Trusthouse Forte Motorway Services at Charnock Richard on the M6. It is located on the bridge across the motorway, giving diners a prime view of the road.
'''1986''' - Forte buys Imperial Group and gets their hands on [[Happy Eater]] and Welcome Break. They retain Happy Eater alongside Little Chef and rebrand all their own large service areas as Welcome Break, replacing the THF brand. Again Allen Jones and Jane Pickard (Michael's wife) decide they don't want to be part of Forte and leave Happy Eater to start [[AJ's]] Family restaurants.
'''1986''' - Forte buys Imperial Group and gets their hands on [[Happy Eater]] and Welcome Break. They retain Happy Eater alongside Little Chef and rebrand all their own large service areas as Welcome Break, replacing the THF brand. Again Allen Jones and Jane Pickard (Michael's wife) decide they don't want to be part of Forte and leave Happy Eater to start [[AJ's]] Family restaurants.
Line 31:
Line 39:
'''1986''' - Little Chef now has 270 sites. Happy Eater has 68 with 13 more planned to open. (although 3 open as Little Chefs instead!)
'''1986''' - Little Chef now has 270 sites. Happy Eater has 68 with 13 more planned to open. (although 3 open as Little Chefs instead!)
-
'''1988/89''' - Little Chef Lodge is rebranded as Travelodge after Forte acquires the Travelodge brand. By this time there are 41 Travelodges alongside Little Chef restaurants. Travelodge is later rebranded as "Forte Travelodge"
+
'''1988/89''' - Little Chef Lodge
, now with 28 sites,
is rebranded as Travelodge after Forte acquires the Travelodge brand. By this time there are 41 Travelodges alongside Little Chef restaurants. Travelodge is later rebranded as "Forte Travelodge"
'''1989/90''' - This sees Little Chef's first (and only) airport site at Luton opened. It lasts until 1994/5.
'''1989/90''' - This sees Little Chef's first (and only) airport site at Luton opened. It lasts until 1994/5.
+
+
'''1990''' - Little Chef has 343 restaurants.
'''1990/91''' - Forte decides to buy over [[Kelly's Kitchen]], one of Little Chef's small rival chains. This gives them 18 additional sites, all of which are rebranded as Little Chef.
'''1990/91''' - Forte decides to buy over [[Kelly's Kitchen]], one of Little Chef's small rival chains. This gives them 18 additional sites, all of which are rebranded as Little Chef.
Line 50:
Line 60:
'''1994''' - [[AJ's]] suffers due to the financial climate and sells 5 of its sites to [[McDonald's]] to allow it to keep afloat.
'''1994''' - [[AJ's]] suffers due to the financial climate and sells 5 of its sites to [[McDonald's]] to allow it to keep afloat.
+
+
'''1994''' - The Olympic Breakfast is born.
'''1994/5''' - Forte decides that the Little Chef brand is preferred over [[Happy Eater]] and starts to convert some of the sites to Little Chef instead.
'''1994/5''' - Forte decides that the Little Chef brand is preferred over [[Happy Eater]] and starts to convert some of the sites to Little Chef instead.
Line 78:
Line 90:
'''1998''' - Granada ends its agreement with [[Rock Island Diner]]s and Little Chef replaces them in Granada sites.
'''1998''' - Granada ends its agreement with [[Rock Island Diner]]s and Little Chef replaces them in Granada sites.
+
+
'''1999''' - The number of Little Chef/ Burger King combo sites reaches 100.
'''1999/2000''' - There are 439 Little Chefs, 4 of which are in Ireland. This is the highest the total gets! By this point the Spanish sites have gone by the end of the 90s and the French ones closed in the mid 1970s. However, many worry that rapid growth has been pursued at the expense of refurbishment and maintenance.
'''1999/2000''' - There are 439 Little Chefs, 4 of which are in Ireland. This is the highest the total gets! By this point the Spanish sites have gone by the end of the 90s and the French ones closed in the mid 1970s. However, many worry that rapid growth has been pursued at the expense of refurbishment and maintenance.
Line 95:
Line 109:
'''2001/2''' - There are now 400 Little Chefs, 5 of which are in Ireland.
'''2001/2''' - There are now 400 Little Chefs, 5 of which are in Ireland.
-
'''2001/2002''' - Little Chef Choices format is trialled at 2 sites. The idea is to improve the ambience of the restaurants and bring in more evening customers. For "Choices" the Little Chef brand is joined by [[Caffe Ritazza]], [[Upper Crust]] and [[Harry Ramsdens]] at the sites to give customers a greater range of food offerings. The idea is rolled out to more sites but disappears come 2003.
+
'''2001/2002''' - Little Chef Choices format is trialled at 2 sites. The idea is to improve the ambience of the restaurants and bring in more evening customers. For "Choices" the Little Chef brand is joined by [[Caffe Ritazza]], [[Upper Crust]]
, Wiseguys Pizza
and [[Harry Ramsdens]] at the sites to give customers a greater range of food offerings. The idea is rolled out to more sites but disappears come 2003.
'''2002/2003''' - A franchise agreement sees a Little Chef open at Swayfields MSA in [[Blackburn]], Lancs. This is gone by 2005.
'''2002/2003''' - A franchise agreement sees a Little Chef open at Swayfields MSA in [[Blackburn]], Lancs. This is gone by 2005.
Line 194:
Line 208:
'''October 2012''' - The three new Little Chef Express sites at Popham, York & West Knoyle open.
'''October 2012''' - The three new Little Chef Express sites at Popham, York & West Knoyle open.
-
'''December 2012''' - Little Chef have
73
outlets.
+
'''December 2012''' - Little Chef close two more sites at Allesley (A46/ A435) and Harlow East (A414).
+
+
'''December 2012''' - Little Chef have
78
outlets.
{{Credit|Adrian Atkins, David Lawrence, Caterersearch.com and all Little Chef Literature who/which all helped [[User:Alan|Alan]] to prepare this}}
{{Credit|Adrian Atkins, David Lawrence, Caterersearch.com and all Little Chef Literature who/which all helped [[User:Alan|Alan]] to prepare this}}
[[Category:Little Chef]]
[[Category:Little Chef]]