Home Insights How do you start again after losing your business?

How do you start again after losing your business?

The Business Leader podcast looks at the story behind Sir Rocco Forte's billion-pound businesses

How do you start again after losing your business?

You can listen to our podcast interview with Sir Rocco Forte here.

Sir Rocco Forte succeeded his father as chief executive of the family business, Forte Group, in 1992. Forte Group was one of the biggest businesses in the UK at this point. It owned luxury hotels, Little Chef restaurants and Travelodge hotels.

But Sir Rocco’s tenure in charge didn’t work out as he envisaged. By 1996 he had lost the family business. Granada made a hostile £3.9bn takeover bid for Forte Group, won control and then dismantled the business. Sir Rocco walked away bruised but unbowed. “We have lost the bid, but I don’t believe we have lost the argument,” he said at the time.

30 years later, Sir Rocco has built another business worth more than £1 billion – Rocco Forte Hotels. Our podcast episode looks at the story of the Granada bid battle and how Sir Rocco bounced back.

Here are three key takeaways:

1. The importance of succession planning

Sir Rocco says that the transition to him becoming chief executive of Forte Group in place of his father could have been handled better. “I think if he'd retired a bit earlier I could have got things moving in the right direction sooner. Maybe the takeover bid wouldn't have happened,” Sir Rocco says. “But on the other hand, he's someone who'd worked all his life, built a business and it was very much part of his life- I wasn't clever enough to keep him involved in some way.”

2. Being in the right place at the right time

Sir Rocco was struggling to find hotels for his new business when an opportunity to take over The Balmoral hotel in Edinburgh emerged. “There's obviously a certain amount of opportunism,” he says. “When I started, I couldn't do a deal, I couldn't find a hotel to buy. Quite a few deals fell through. It was lucky that The Balmoral came along completely at the right time.”

3. The power of a partnership

At the centre of Rocco Forte Hotels is Sir Rocco and his sister Olga, who have built the business together. Olga is the director of design and handles what the hotels look like on the inside. “Obviously it's got to look nice and it's got to be well decorated,” Sir Rocco says of his hotels. “My sister Olga, who joined me from the beginning - rather reluctantly at first - understood that side of things very well.”

You can listen to our podcast episode with Sir Rocco Forte here:

Related and recommended

Give British businesses the right environment to grow

Give British businesses the right environment to grow

With Labour committed to spending more on defence, we need to be clearer on the trade-offs – while realising ultimately it can boost the economy

No 10 sees opportunities in Trump’s trade chaos

No 10 sees opportunities in Trump’s trade chaos

Labour believes a trade deal with the US will change its political fortunes, but there are numerous obstacles in the way

Sir Chris Hoy: Make sure you all buy into the same goal

Sir Chris Hoy: Make sure you all buy into the same goal

The Olympic cycling champion has brought lessons from his time in sport to his work in business

Nine ideas that will help you build a culture of innovation

Nine ideas that will help you build a culture of innovation

How do you build a company culture that nurtures game-changing ideas? Start with mindset, feedback and failure

Apply to become a member

Click here to review our privacy policy.

Start your journey