CENTRAL CATERING COMPANY

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0074 LMA/4453/Q
Held at	: London Metropolitan Archives   Click here to find out how to view this collection at https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/lma ›
Full title	: CENTRAL CATERING COMPANY
Date(s)	: 1904-1907
Level of description	: Collection View parent record
Extent	: 0.1 linear metres
Name of creator(s)	: Central Catering Company | suppliers of catering to public houses

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

The Central Catering Company, located at 100 Theobald's Road, was contracted by Whitbread in the early 1900s to supply food to its public houses. This was in response to legislation allowing magistrates to refuse license renewal to public houses that were deemed unsavoury. Whitbread decided that one of the key issues was the absence of good food in pubs and by 1905 the Central Catering Company was supplying 400 pubs daily.

Whitbread was so enthusiastic about the scheme that it decided to take over the Central Catering Company and extend the scheme to all of its tied houses. However, by the end of 1906 the company was running at a loss. The scheme had failed due to lack of background research - it has become clear that it was very difficult to supply pubs with food at the exact time that they needed it and also that many Whitbread pubs were serving their own food already. In order to prevent further financial damage it was agreed in 1907 that the company should be closed, a decision signed by Francis Pelham Whitbread (known as Frank) then company director.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Board minutes and financial accounts for the Central Catering Company, dating from 1905-1907.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

One item catalogued as LMA/4453/Q/01.

Conditions governing access:

Available for general access.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copyright to these records rests with the Corporation of London.

Finding aids:

Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Received in 2001 as a gift.

Allied Materials

Related material:

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
November 2009 to February 2010