- Happy Eater
Happy Eater was a chain of roadside restaurants in the
United Kingdom . It was owned by theTrust House Forte hotel group since1 August 1986 when THF bought its 70 restaurants from the hotel division of Imperial Group plc (includingWelcome Break service stations) from Hanson Trust plc. Three Happy Eaters were at motorway service stations. THF was taken over in1995 by Granada. Most Happy Eaters were in south-east England, the Midlands and most noticeably along the A1. They had many facilities for young children to occupy themselves with, usually outdoors.Happy Eater was formed by Michael Pickard (a former managing director of THF and former pupil of
Oundle School ) in 1973. In 1980, when it had 21 restaurants, it was taken over by Imperial Group.The brand ceased to exist in
1997 when Granada converted the restaurants intoBurger King s andLittle Chef s. Granada said this was because people were eating atLittle Chef s rather than the Happy Eaters. Granada also said profits would double when they were rebranded. Fact|date=February 2007 However, the Little Chef brand itself soon ran into financial trouble following the conversions.Popular culture
*The
Torchwood episode "Random Shoes " features a roadside restaurant called Happy Cook, which features a similar logo (and name) to Happy Eater.
*The movieRise of the Footsoldier features prominent scenes in a Happy Eater restaurant.
*The Ian Rankin novel "The Black Book" features a fight scene in a Happy Eater restaurant.References
* [http://www.oundlesociety.org/SirMichaelPickard.asp Sir Michael Pickard - who created the chain]
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