Sir Rocco Giovanni Forte (born 18 January 1945) is an English

hotelier A hotel manager, hotelier, or lodging manager is a person who manages the operation of a hotel, motel, resort, or other lodging-related establishment. Management of a hotel operation includes, but is not limited to management of hotel staff, bu ...

and the chairman of

Rocco Forte Hotels Rocco Forte Hotels is a British hotel group that was established in 1996 by hotelier Sir Rocco Forte and his sister, Olga Polizzi. Their 14 hotels are located in European cities, as well as beach resorts in Sicily and Apulia. Sir Rocco Forte is Ch ...

Early life

Born in Bournemouth, the son of

Charles Forte, Baron Forte Charles Carmine Forte, Baron Forte (26 November 1908 – 28 February 2007) was an Italian-born Scottish hotelier who founded the leisure and hotels conglomerate that ultimately became the Forte Group. Early life Charles Forte was born as Car ...

, and his wife Irene, he was educated at St Peter's Catholic School, Southbourne (at the time an independent and fee-paying Roman Catholic grammar school) and

Downside School Downside School is a co-educational Catholic independent boarding and day school in the English public school tradition for pupils aged 11 to 18. It is located between Bath, Frome, Wells and Bruton, and is attached to Downside Abbey. Original ...

. He read modern languages at Pembroke College, Oxford, where he won a

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...

for fencing. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1969, later becoming a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in 1979.

Career

Forte took over from his father as CEO of the

Forte Group Forte Group plc was a British hotel and restaurant company. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until it was acquired by Granada in 1996. Its head office was in the London Borough of Camden. ...

in 1992. In the mid-1990s, the Forte Group was faced with a hostile takeover bid from

Gerry Robinson Sir Gerrard Jude Robinson (23 October 1948 – 14 October 2021) was an Irish-born British business executive and television presenter. He was non-executive chairman of Allied Domecq and chairman/chief executive of Granada. Early life Robinso ...

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

. Ultimately, Granada succeeded with a £3.87 billion tender offer in August 1995 that left the family with around £350 million in cash. In 2001, following the de-merger of

Compass Group Compass Group plc is a British multinational contract foodservice company headquartered in Chertsey, England. It is the largest contract foodservice company in the world employing over 500,000 people. It serves meals in locations including o ...

from Granada's media interests, the use of the Forte trademark 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 in 1996, initially known as RF Hotels and re-branded as

The Rocco Forte Collection Rocco Forte Hotels is a British hotel group that was established in 1996 by hotelier Sir Rocco Forte and his sister, Olga Polizzi. Their 14 hotels are located in European cities, as well as beach resorts in Sicily and Apulia. Sir Rocco Forte is Ch ...

after the return of the Forte brand name. He bought the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh and

Brown's Hotel Brown's Hotel is a luxury hotel in Mayfair, London, established in 1837 and owned by Rocco Forte Hotels since 3 July 2003. It is considered one of London's oldest existing hotels. History Brown's Hotel was founded in 1837, by James and Sarah Br ...

in London for £51.5m. As of April 2013, The Rocco Forte Collection operates eleven hotels in Europe, Russia, northern Africa and the Middle East. Forte's family wealth in 2013 was listed as £250,000,000.

Honours and awards

Forte was appointed a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the ...

in the 1995 New Year Honours list for services to the UK tourism industry. In March 2005, he received the highest Italian accolade, the ''Gran Croce dell'

Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking ...

'', for his entrepreneurial merits and strong links with Italy. He was President of the

British Hospitality Association The British Hospitality Association (BHA), incorporating The Restaurant Association (RA), was a non-government representative body for hotels, clubs, restaurants, leisure outlets and other hospitality-related organisations nationwide headquartere ...

from 1991 to 1996. He was also a member of the Executive Committee of the World Travel & Tourism Council and chaired the appeals to send the English teams to the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

for many years.

Philanthropy

Forte funded a series of lectures at

Westminster Cathedral Westminster Cathedral is the mother church of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. It is the largest Catholic church in the UK and the seat of the Archbishop of Westminster. The site on which the cathedral stands in the City o ...

in April 2008 organised by Cardinal Archbishop

Cormac Murphy-O'Connor Cormac Murphy-O'Connor (24 August 1932 – 1 September 2017) was a British cardinal, the Archbishop of Westminster and president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. He was made cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2001. He s ...

. In 1992, Forte and Martin Landau opened a City Technology College in Derby named Landau Forte College. In 2006, they changed to an academy. In 2010, they took a Tamworth High School (Woodhouse Business & Enterprise College) and turned it into Landau Forte Academy Tamworth, but in 2011, when they opened Landau Forte Academy QEMS in Tamworth, they changed their name to Landau Forte Academy Amington. There has since been a

Sixth Form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

centre open next to Landau Forte Academy QEMS named Landau Forte Academy Tamworth Sixth Form.

Political activity

Forte paid for a victory party for

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

in one of his hotels upon his winning the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election. He donated £100,000 to the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

during the 2019 general election.

Family

On 15 February 1986, in the Aracoeli church of Rome, he married Aliai Giovanna Maria Ricci, a twenty-one-year-old Italian (b. 1965). She is the daughter of a Roman neurologist, professor Giovanni Ricci. They have three children together: Lydia Irene (b. 1987), Irene Alisea (b. 1988) and Charles Giovanni (b. 1991). Other notable Forte family members include his sister

Olga Polizzi Olga Polizzi (born February 1946) is a British hotelier and interior designer. She is a former Westminster City Council councillor, representing Lancaster Gate ward for the Conservative Party. Family She is the mother of the broadcaster and ''T ...

and her daughter

Alex Polizzi Alessandra Maria Luigia Anna Polizzi di SorrentinoBurke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage 2003, vol. 1, p. 1472 (born 28 August 1971), better known as Alex Polizzi, is an English hotelier, businesswoman, and television personality. Since 2008 ...

, a

and the presenter of Channel 5's ''

The Hotel Inspector ''The Hotel Inspector'' is an observational documentary television series which is broadcast on the British terrestrial television station, Channel 5, and by other networks around the world. In each episode, celebrated hotelier and businesswo ...

''.

References

External links

Rocco Forte Collection

"Rocco Forte Revealed"
CNN
Interview with Sir Rocco Forte
Hotel Management International {{DEFAULTSORT:Forte, Rocco 1945 births Living people English Roman Catholics Businesspeople from Bournemouth British hoteliers Knights Bachelor Businesspeople awarded knighthoods English people of Italian descent English people of Scottish descent People educated at Downside School Alumni of Pembroke College, Oxford Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Place of birth missing (living people) People named in the Panama Papers British Eurosceptics Conservative Party (UK) donors People educated at St Peter's Catholic School, Bournemouth Forte family Sons of life peers