Wolseley success is a lesson to other top British brands

There was consternation among London restaurant-goers when their favourite venue, owned by their favourite restaurateur, was acquired three years ago by a Thai-based group.

- CHRIS BLACKHURST

It was feared The Wolseley, adored by many, including Lucian Freud (whose regular corner table was covered with a black cloth and a single candle following his death) and AA Gill, would be no more. It would not be the same without Jeremy King, its co-founder, greeting regulars and attending to every last detail.

But fears The Wolseley would lose its cachet have proved groundless. The restaurant and its siblings, including The Delaunay, Colbert and Brasserie Zedel, plus a new Wolseley in the City, are thriving.

The Wolseley remains as it was, known far beyond London for its “Parisian cafe meets Viennese dining room” menu, spectacular but intimate room, and warm ambience. The numbers speak for themselves. Last year, the original Wolseley sold 21,803 schnitzels, 7,542 pancakes, 45,750 afternoon teas and 29,837 oysters. As a group, the restaurants managed 18,358 champagne bottles and 91,306 glasses, 99,013 schnitzels, 15,755 pancakes and 49,104 afternoon teas.

Wolseley parent company Minor International turned in thumping annual results, including record net profits. Now Minor is taking the business international, and going further still, by opening The Wolseley Hotels. Proof that no single person is bigger than the brand, and evidence that what they created is capable of developing and expanding into a moneymaking machine

Minor is so-called because it was founded by entrepreneur Bill Heinecke when he was underage. American-born Heinecke started in business in Bangkok at the age of just 14, in 1963, while he was still in high school. He persuaded the editor of the