J Lyons and Company

The caterers J Lyons and Company Limited were best known for the Lyons Corner Houses, but large hotels were also a part of their business. In the collection held at TLA is an impressive marketing and advertising series dating from the late 1880s when the company was founded to 1995 when the head office was closed.

Lyons Corner Houses

The Lyons Corner Houses were large restaurants arranged on several floors. The first one opened in Coventry Street in 1909. A successful Corner House might have anything up to 400 staff across separate floors, much grander than their chain of tea shops. The ground floor was typically a food hall where produce could be bought to take away. Other services might be offered such as hairdressing, theatre booking and telephone booths.

Hotels

The firm’s hotels were also a major part of their business. Established in 1907, Strand Hotel Ltd opened a suite of vast hotels in central and west London, including the Regent Palace Hotel which at the time of its construction in 1915 was the largest in Europe, with 1280 rooms. The firm finally gained full control in 1968 renaming the new subsidiary, Strand Hotels Ltd.

The Cumberland Hotel near Marble Arch was opened in 1933 with all the mod-cons of the time. Alongside the 900 en-suite bedrooms, there were extensive facilities with public rooms, restaurants, a grill room and banqueting hall. The menu cards in the collection are evidence of the culinary attractions the hotel could offer at times of special celebration.

ACC/3527

The majority of records for J Lyons and Company are organised under the series reference ACC/3527. Why not start by exploring the catalogue:

Besides the standard management, shareholding, administrative and financial records there is also documentation on special company initiatives like the Lyons Electronic Office (LEO), the first computer in the world capable of use for commercial work, set up in 1954.

The collection includes an impressive marketing and advertising series with hundreds of photographs, some films and videos, press cuttings, advertisements, and a set of lithographs which were commissioned after the Second World War as a way of brightening up Lyons Corner Houses.

This material reflects the design aesthetics of their time and provide a wealth of ideas. Beyond the gimmicks and sometimes loud, colourful designs, they indicate the company’s ethos for attracting customers visiting the capital with big events and other festivities to make money.

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