Forte and his sister Polizzi founded their hotel chain nearly 30 years ago. Their Italian-born father Charles had been in the same line, growing his Forte Group into a FTSE 100 behemoth that also owned the Little Chef and Harvester restaurant chains. The next generation of the family now have 16 premises in their group, including Edinburgh’s Balmoral and Brown’s in London. Four more are under development. In late 2023, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund bought a 49 per cent share in Rocco Forte Hotels valuing the operation at £1.4bn. A strong critic of the Labour government, Sir Rocco has now moved to Italy.