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'XYZ '

YOUNG, Harold George (1921-1989) was born on 24 June 1921 and was Chief Executive of Catering Division and a main board director from 1965 to 1981. He died after an illness on 28 November 1989. From the 1940s he was at the forefront of catering within Lyons and merged the teashops and Corner Houses into a single entity. After the war the super restaurant era declined and Harold Young was instrumental in designing smaller units such as the Restful Tray and the Wimpy's. In the mid 1950s he became the first general manager of a major catering outlet (Oxford Corner House), a position previously held only by members of the Salmon and Gluckstein families. From the Oxford Corner House he moved to the Strand and Coventry Street Corner Houses to carry out fundamental changes in management and to develop further smaller catering projects within the large restaurants. The Chicken Fayre, The Seven Stars, The Piccadilly and the Bacon and Egg became household names. The 1960s saw the combining of these Corner Houses and the Throgmorton Restaurant under his leadership. The speciality restaurant idea was developed further with the London Steak Houses. His successful tendering led to outside catering being undertaken at Heathrow and Gatwick airports and in a number of stately homes. Harold Young's ultimate catering role was to assume the chairmanship of Town & County Catering and responsibility for the Royal garden parties. His service to the Royal Household was later recognised by being made a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order. It was as head of Town & County Catering that he secured the contract to provide the catering at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon. Outside catering he was chairman of Normand Ltd, the Lyons motor subsidiary. He left a widow, Elsie, and four children.