- Rocco Forte
Sir Rocco Forte (born
18 January 1945 ) is a Britishhotel ier born inBournemouth .After
Downside School he went on to read modern languages atOxford University , where he won a blue forfencing . He is the son of the late Lord Forte from whom he took over as CEO of theForte Group in 1992.In 1983, in
Rome , he married Aliai Ricci, a nineteen year old Italian, daughter of a famous psychiatrist.In the mid-Nineties, the Forte Group was faced with a hostile
takeover bid fromGerry Robinson 's Granada. Ultimately, Granada succeeded with a £3.87 billion tender offer in August 1995 that left the family with around £350 million in cash.Sir Rocco Forte was featured on the cover of a recent edition of
Lusso Magazine . In the interview he told the magazine about his brief career as an actor as well as his participation in various triathlons. [http://www.lussoluxury.com/content.asp/read-130072007133334/Sir_Rocco_Forte_talks_to_Lusso_Magazine_about_Assoufid_Golf_and_Triathlons.html Sir Rocco Forte Interview]In 2003, following the de-merger of
Compass Group from Granada's media interests, the use of the Fortetrademark was returned to Forte in a gesture intended to dispel the bitter legacy of the takeover.After the takeover, Forte set up his own chain of hotels - initially known as RF Hotels and re-branded as
The Rocco Forte Collection after the return of the Forte brand name. He bought theBalmoral Hotel ,Edinburgh andBrown's Hotel ,London for £51.5m. The Rocco Forte Hotels group now operates 11 luxurious hotels around Europe, with three more to open within the period 2008-2009.Forte's family
wealth in 2006 was listed as £385,000,000.Fact|date=June 2007Forte funded a series of lectures at Westminster Cathedral in April 2008 organised by Cardinal Archbishop Cormac Murphy-O'Connor. The first of these was given by former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, who launched his "faith foundation" there. Later, Forte was reported to have criticised Blair for passing anti-Catholic legislation [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2008/apr/13/24 Pendennis | From the Observer | The Observer ] ] .
His niece is
Alex Polizzi , a hotelier and the presenter of Five's the "Hotel Inspector ".References
External links
* [http://www.lussoluxury.com/content.asp/read-130072007133334/Sir_Rocco_Forte_talks_to_Lusso_Magazine_about_Assoufid_Golf_and_Triathlons.html Interview with Sir Rocco Forte]
* [http://www.roccofortecollection.com/ The Rocco Forte Collection]
* [http://www.totalbusiness.org.uk/LS/news/decjan03/004+005.asp "The Return of Rocco"] , Total Business
* [http://edition.cnn.com/CNNI/Programs/revealed/forte/ "Rocco Forte Revealed"] , CNN
* [http://www.hotelmanagement-network.com/features/feature1101/ Interview with Sir Rocco Forte] , Hotel Management International
* [http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/features/f0000237.shtml Rocco Forte speaks about his father's influence] to The Catholic Herald
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.