, produced in the 1930s The company was a substantial food manufacturer, with factories at
Cadby Hall in
Hammersmith, and from 1921 at
Greenford, producing bread, cakes, pies, tea, coffee and ice cream. Lyons branded cakes included
treacle tarts, Lyons
Bakewell tart, Lyons
Battenberg, and Lyons
trifle sponges. To the public, J. Lyons & Co. were best known for their chain of
teashops which opened from 1894 and finally closed in 1981, and for the Lyons Corner Houses in the
West End of London. The teashops provided for tea and coffee, with hot dishes and sweets, cold dishes and sweets, and buns, cakes and rolls. Lyons' teashops were slightly more up market than their ABC (
Aerated Bread Company) competitors. They were notable for their interior design, from the 1920s
Oliver P. Bernard being consultant artistic director. Until the 1940s they had a certain working-class chic, but by the 1950s and 1960s they were quick stops for busy shoppers where one could drink a cup of tea and eat a snack or an inexpensive meal. The teashops always had a bakery counter at the front, and their signs,
Art Nouveau gold lettering on white, were a familiar landmark. Before the
Second World War service was to the table by uniformed waitresses, known as '
Nippies'; after the war the teashops converted to cafeteria service.
Corner Houses Lyons' Corner Houses, which first appeared in 1909 and remained until 1977, were noted for their
art deco style. Situated on or near the corners of
Coventry Street,
Strand and
Tottenham Court Road, they and the Maisons Lyons at
Marble Arch and in
Shaftesbury Avenue were large buildings on four or five floors, the ground floor of which was a food hall with counters for delicatessen, sweets and chocolates, cakes, fruit, flowers and other products. In addition, they possessed hairdressing salons, telephone booths, theatre booking agencies and at one period a twice-a-day food delivery service. On the other floors were several restaurants, each with a different theme and all with their own musicians. For a time the Corner Houses were open 24 hours a day, and at their peak each branch employed around 400 staff. They featured window displays, and, in the
post-war period, the Corner Houses were smarter and grander than the local tea shops. The artist Kay Lipton designed all the windows for the Corner Houses under the supervision of Norman Joseph, the director post-war. Between 1896 and 1965 Lyons owned the
Trocadero, which was similar in size and style to the Corner Houses.
Restaurants As well as the tea shops and Corner Houses, Lyons ran other large restaurants such as the
Angel Cafe Restaurant in Islington and the Throgmorton in
Throgmorton Street in the City of London. Its chains have included Steak Houses (1961–1988),
Wimpy Bars (1953–1976),
Baskin-Robbins (1974–present) and
Dunkin' Donuts (1989–present).
Hotels The
Regent Palace Hotel, Glasshouse Street, London was operated by Strand Hotels Limited, a subsidiary of J. Lyons and Company and opened on 16 May 1915. Strand Hotels also operated the Cumberland Hotel (Marble Arch, London), Kingsley Hotel, Park Court Hotel, Windsor Hotel, White's Hotel and the
Strand Palace Hotel after the inception of Strand Hotels Limited. The last London hotel that they operated until the demise of the group in the mid-1970s was the
Tower Hotel situated by
Tower Bridge in London.
Biscuits company In 1938, Lyons purchased the Bee Bee Biscuit Company, which manufactured
biscuits from its factories in
Blackpool. Six years later, Lyons changed the company's name to Symbol Biscuits Ltd. and began selling biscuits under the Symbol and Lyons brand names: one of their innovations was
Maryland Cookies in 1956. In 1990, Lyons changed the Symbol Biscuits name to Lyons Biscuits Ltd. ==Other activities==