The story began at a house party in the October of 1968, when Peter Bretherton, John and Rita Gardner and a couple of friends happened to mention that the Arden Grill was up for sale. The Arden Grill, as the name implies, was a road side cafe with 6 bedrooms. The friends agreed that they would meet at the Grill the following morning. Come the morning, having enjoyed the night before, only Peter, John and Rita managed to meet up. Liking what they saw, and instinctively seeing the potential, they put down a deposit with the vendor, a gentleman called Peter De La Lorenzo there and then. John actually had to lend Peter a £1 to cover his share of the princely deposit, and to this day still argues he’s never had it back!
The price of £14,000 was agreed and on 4th October 1968 the deal was completed and the partners took possession. At the time the Arden was an outpost in the countryside located on the main road between Birmingham and Coventry. It was surrounded by open fields and forest. In the morning you could see the deer retreating back into the forest for cover. There was no NEC, motorway nor railway station. The advent of mass overseas tourism had yet to happen and so Elmdon Airport (as it was known then) was basically an airstrip with a very small terminal and very few flights. On the face of it, the partners had acquired a road side cafe with 6 bedrooms , which sold bacon butties for 2 shillings (10p) with little prospect of significant growth. In fact they had encountered serious problems in raising the money as many banks thought they were paying too much! But somehow they had a ‘gut feeling’ about the location and set about renovating the tired cafe and building the business. By 1969 the business had grown enough to consider expansion and they had the first of many planning skirmishes with the local council when an application for 24 bedrooms was rejected. However the landscape was about to change forever.
In 1970 it was muted for the first time that Birmingham was being considered to home the National Exhibition Centre. By 1976 the NEC opened its doors for the first time, and the area directly surrounding the Arden exploded into life. In the meantime, the Arden had expanded to 24 rooms in 1973, having been granted approval on appeal, and had also opened a night club, called ‘Stage One’ located in the basement. The company was therefore ideally positioned to benefit from the large influx of people. It was during this time that Tony Cheal joined the team, fresh out of college.
The following 2 decades saw continued growth with extensions of; 22 bedrooms plus the Burgundy Restaurant and Bar (1980); 30 bedrooms and leisure complex (1986); 70 bedrooms, conservatory and courtyard (1993).
In 1998, John and Peter decided to retire after 30 years at the helm. John and Rita’s sons, Steve (who had worked at the Arden since 1980) and Dave, together with Tony (and Julie—John’s daughter) bought 60% of the business, making it the 5 way partnership, and took on the day to day running of the business as joint managing directors. Not wishing to rest on their laurels, they immediately looked to expand. In September 2000 the company opened the new atrium reception area together with the sunken bar area and ‘Meeting Place’ and a further 70 bedrooms taking our total to 216. Tony and Julie retired from the business in 2013 and established a very successful restaurant in Henley called “Cheal’s”.
Despite the new ownership structure, Pete, John and Rita haven’t stepped into the background entirely—in fact if you come in at the weekend you’ve got every chance of seeing them enjoying an evening at the bar!
Hi, so good to read your history as we remember the Arden Grill, my husband worked at the Garden Centre next door ,I believe the land was purchased to expand the Arden Grill , he used to tell me of the stars that used to stay there as it was between Birmingham and Coventry theatres, the likes of Yana, Morcam and wise and lots of other stars, we remember the old Elmdon Airport and old Coventry Road. We now live in Yorkshire, but our son and his family still live in Solihull and our Grandaughter is getting married at the Arden this April so we will be interested to see the changes.
Yes, we and the wider area have changed dramatically since those days – we hope you still recognise us! Thanks for getting in touch and we hope you and your family have a fantastic day in April celebrating Stephanie and Michael’s Wedding Day (I’m presuming it’s them based on your surname!).
Hi. I was there when your dad and Peter aquired the Arden. I was part of the band in the nightclub. .keyboard player with Roger on drums. The opening night featured Colin Crompton (The Comedians and Wheeltappers) Fond memories of Peter and your dad. Are they still alive and kicking? Tony Cheal taught me to cook Steak Diane which I still do today. Cheers!
Great to hear from you Dave and yes Mom, Dad and Pete are all well and still regularly come in. I have passed on your kind comments and you must pop in to visit next time you are passing.
My uncle used to work at sheldon garden supplies which was a business adjacent to the hotel in the 60s I have happy memories of going to work with him cutting turf and delivering it . The owner of the business was a Joe Bonum and he used to employ about 20 staff there they used to drive ford Thames trader Lorries
hi, it was nice reading the history. i worked there i in the mid nineties with night security. it was nice, and its nice now. it looks great. what was different from the staffs point of view was that its a family run hotel, hands on too. and thats rare these days. i can remember Steve Gardner working as the day to day manager with Tony Cheal. and i can say that Tony Cheal, marrying the bosses daughter, he took a lot of light hearted banter but laughed it all off. but be under no illusion, he worked his tail off, working days and evenings, leaving in the early hours, nice guy too, always looking after the staff. the other thing i remember was that a lot of famous people stayed there. The great irish singer Brenden Shine used it as his base in the uk. also Birmingham City football club. the players and staff stayed there. they could of stayed in the Metropole, which is a step down these days, but it wasnt then. they liked the enviroment, plus the owners and staff were all big fans of the club, especially Steve. so we lived and died with results like they did. im glad to see it is still family run. best of luck to all that i knew during my 2 year spell.
Hi my family owned the Kennels next door “Greystones” Arthur Barnes, with a compulsory purchase order looming from the NEC he sold it to the then called Arden Grill. My uncle also owned the petrol station next door John Gill Elmdon Taxis. Found memories having had a few birthday parties there.
hi. I used to be in the band from start to finish of the club underneath. I dated John Gills daughter Lorain for a long time. Lovely man and daughter.
Just heard Peter has passed away. So sad. A lovely, lovely, gentleman. RIP Pete Bretherton
Thank you Ian. Indeed he was, “a gentleman with a capital G”. He will be greatly missed by all.
Hi I was there first chef after they bought the property 😃I worked for them for one winter in 1968. Lovely people to work for.
I had tears in my eyes when I left.
Hi I was their first chef after they bought the arden grill as was known. I was working for them in their first winter and I had tears in my eyes when I left.
Lovely people to work for. I still remember them fondly. I am so glad of their achievement in life.
We ( as in a crowd of us ) from Chelmsley Wood used The Stage One club from when it first opened, great memories