document_title: Steve McDonald (Coronation Street)

question_text: when did the mcdonald's join coronation street

question_tokens: when did the mcdonald 's join coronation street

root

text: Steve McDonald (Coronation Street)

text: Storylines[edit]

text: Steve arrived in Coronation Street at the age of 15 in December 1989, with twin brother Andy (Nicholas Cochrane) and parents Jim (Charles Lawson) and Liz (Beverley Callard). From the start, the lads were high-energy tearaways initially causing aggravation for Alf Roberts (Bryan Mosley). Steve and Andy got up to a lot of mischief, including a joyride in an industrial earth mover, breaking Alf's shop window. The lads were brought up mainly by their mother because their father Jim was in the army and away more than he was home. When he was home, the hot tempered Jim, whose tirades were often fuelled by whiskey and beer, had the boys fearing and resenting him. Steve grew up with little respect for his father but a great deal for his mother. It didn't stop him from getting into scrapes, no matter how much it worried his mother. Schoolboy pranks turned into illegal activities when Steve was sure he could pull off a scam or two only to find out that the long arm of the law was only a few steps away. Steve was caught selling stolen car radios, and falling into a bad lot which got his brother, Andy, beaten up. Steve ran away with a teenage love to the Lake District and had to be retrieved and defended against Jim by his mother. The McDonalds didn't have a lot of money and this seemed to fuel Steve's ambitions, always looking for a way to make money. Steve started working with Jim in a building business but Jim was drinking a lot and during an argument and scuffle on scaffolding, Jim fell into a skip and was paralysed for a time. After Jim's recovery, things started to improve between father and son. They seemed to come to an acceptance of each other. In 2000 he had dealings with a local gangster, Jez Quigley. After learning that Quigley killed Tony Horrocks, Steve decides to testify against him in court. After Quigley is found not guilty, he soon plans revenge. He has Steve lured into a car park where he is savagely beaten by several of Quigley's henchmen. After been found by Jim and taken to hospital, Jim takes revenge by beating Quigley. Quigley later dies from his injuries after making another attempt on killing Steve. Jim is sentenced to eight year for manslaughter. Simon Belcher, his half brother who was in the same jail as him at same time was caught red handed with a guard and another inmate and all hell broke lose

tag: p

text: Steve was married to Karen Phillips (Suranne Jones) twice. During his separation from Karen in 2003, he had a one-night stand with Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford), consequently making her pregnant. Tracy gave birth to their daughter Amy (Holly Bowyer and Rebecca Pike), though she initially was named Patience by Roy Cropper (David Neilson) when he was deceived into believing Amy was his daughter. Tracy later decided she wanted to bring up her daughter herself, and revealed that Steve was the baby's father on Steve and Karen's second wedding day. Karen was horrified but later forgave him. Tracy was persistent in causing disruption for Steve and Karen which continued throughout 2004, until Steve ended his relationship with Karen on Christmas Day, admitting it was getting too much for him. In March 2005, he dated single mother Louise Hazel briefly but the dalliance soon fizzled out partly due to Tracy's presence. For a brief period shortly after, he dated Tracy, intending to get parental responsibility for Amy, rather than having feelings for Tracy. Tracy became aware of Steve's scheme and attempted to prevent Steve having access to Amy. The case went to court where Steve was granted legal rights to see his daughter.

text: Steve starts dating StreetCars employee Ronnie Clayton (Emma Stansfield), a local gangster's estranged wife. Ronnie tries to frame him when she accidentally ran down a pensioner in her taxi, but she was eventually caught. Steve's alibi for the crime was that he spent the night with his new business partner Lloyd's girlfriend Kelly Crabtree (Tupele Dorgu). This led to the temporary closure of Street Cars when Lloyd refused to work with Steve. Lloyd eventually forgave Steve for his deception and they reopened the business. Later that year, Steve bought The Rovers Return pub from Fred Elliott (John Savident) and installed Liz as landlady and stepfather Vernon Tomlin (Ian Reddington) as cellarman. Steve takes Amy (now played by Amber Chadwick) after Tracy is sentenced to 15 years in prison for the murder of her boyfriend Charlie Stubbs (Bill Ward).

text: After proposing to Becky Granger (Katherine Kelly), he organises a quick wedding for them. Many people disapprove of them marrying because Becky had been engaged to Jason Grimshaw (Ryan Thomas), just before she accepted Steve's proposal. Steve bans Liz and Lloyd Mullaney (Craig Charles) from the wedding after they bet on whether the ceremony would go ahead. In the end, Becky turns up late for the ceremony drunk, rendering her unable to carry out the nuptials. Steve then brings her home in disgrace. The following day, Becky wakes up and, believing that she has been married, hunts for her ring; however, Michelle reveals all in the pub. She later leaves Steve after admitting that it would never work. They later reconcile, and begin plans for another wedding.

text: Steve and Becky have their second wedding. The ceremony goes off without a hitch, however, their happiness is short lived when The Rovers is searched for drugs, which are found in Becky's bag, having been planted by Becky's ex Slug (Marshall Lancaster). She is arrested and taken to the police cells, however, the charges are later dropped. Steve reveals that he wants another child with Becky, however, she doesn't want any children of her own. This leads to various arguments between the pair. Becky later falls pregnant, leaving the couple without much choice in the matter. She later suffers a miscarriage. After a second miscarriage, Steve and Becky discover that Becky cannot have children and later decide to adopt. Becky and Steve's ex-girlfriend, Tracy, fight at Blanche Hunt's (Maggie Jones) funeral because Becky has become very close to Amy (now played by Elle Mulvaney).

text: At an adoption panel meeting, Steve and Becky are told that they have been unsuccessful in their bid to adopt, following a bad reference from Becky's half-sister, Kylie Turner (Paula Lane). Steve is not impressed when Becky moves Kylie into the pub to live with them as she is homeless. On Christmas Eve, Steve and Becky were not happy when Tracy returned. When she entered The Rovers, she managed to insult people and Steve had to reprimand Gail McIntyre (Helen Worth) for starting a fight with Tracy where Steve had to restrain Gail. On Christmas Day, Steve very nearly had to remind Gail although it was okay as Tracy and Gail called a truce. Amy revealed to Tracy that Steve and Becky had bought Max (Harry McDermott), Kylie's son. This gave Tracy cause to literally pick Amy up and take her back to No.1 where she said that she was going to ring social services for buying Max. Steve hires a new manager for the pub, Stella Price (Michelle Collins) who moves in there with her daughter Eva (Catherine Tyldesley) and her boyfriend Karl Munro (John Michie). Becky discovers this and is annoyed and goes round the pub to take charge and plays loud music and a fight breaks out resulting in the pub window being smashed. Steve returns and is furious to discover what Becky has done and tells his she does not own the pub any more.

text: Steve and Becky split up and he begins a relationship with Tracy, after she announces that she is pregnant with his child, who later turn out to be twins. After Lloyd leaves the area, Steve and Becky go into business and decide to extend the business when they meet hotel manager Danny Stratton (Jeremy Sheffield). Tracy assumes that they were having an affair and while searching the hotel for them, she collapses at the hotel and miscarries the babies. However, Steve is told that Becky pushed her down the stairs and caused the miscarriage. Steve is very bitter towards Becky and repeatedly accuses her of killing his unborn children, which she strongly denies. He proposes to Tracy on Christmas Day and he buys No. 13 from Lloyd and they move in and he and Becky get divorced. Steve and Tracy marry but, at the wedding reception in The Rovers, Becky gives Steve a copy of Tracy's medical records, proving that she lied about Becky causing her miscarriage. Steve is disgusted with Tracy and tries to stop Becky leaving with Danny for Barbados but fails and he watches as they board the plane. Steve angrily tells Tracy he wants their marriage annulled and that he loves Becky, not her. Steve's attempts to get the annulment fail as he needs her co-operation and cannot file for divorce for a year. Worse still, he finds himself unable to kick her out of No. 13 as the deeds are in joint names. Unwilling to move out of his own house, Steve remains and tries to persuade Tracy to move out but she won't either so Steve has the house converted into two flats but Tracy threatens to call the council as he didn't apply for planning permission so that is reversed. However, Steve then allows Beth Tinker (Lisa George) and her son, Craig (Colson Smith), to move in with Tracy and Amy. He thought this would make Tracy move out but she ends up becoming friends with Beth so he sells the house to Kevin Webster (Michael Le Vell) who is looking for somewhere for him and his son after splitting from his wife a few months before. When Steve mentions he needs the house cleaned, Kevin's daughter Sophie (Brooke Vincent) offers and Steve accepts her offer. While Sophie is cleaning, her old friend Ryan Connor (Sol Heras) helps her and while having a cigarette, Steve's curtains are set on fire. Steve and Ryan's mother, Michelle, catch them trying to put out the fire. Afterwards, Kevin tells Steve he isn't interested in buying the house as Steve refused to pay for them.

text: Steve begins to develop feelings for ex-girlfriend, Michelle Connor (Kym Marsh), and doesn't believe Tracy when she complains that she's ill until she is hospitalised, after collapsing from kidney failure. She tells Steve she still loves him and begs him to stay by her bedside until she wakes up from her sleep. Steve reluctantly does but after helping Michelle deal with Ryan, they share a kiss, unaware that Amy has seen them. Michelle urges Steve to tell Tracy the truth, but he only tells her that he wants to live life on his own. Deirdre came out and furiously told Tracy everything: the kiss and making Amy promise not to say anything, and Tracy is heartbroken. The next day, Steve explained everything to Tracy, saying that nothing has changed between them and he loves Michelle. Tracy tells Steve he's being a fool, but all she got back was an apology for not being honest with her earlier. Steve and Michelle move into 4b Victoria Court.In  September 2013, Stella puts The Rovers up for sale, and Steve decides to put an offer down to cheer up Michelle, who is down in the dumps at the moment. Although she is angry that he kept it a secret, she eventually comes round to the idea of being the landlady, and is given a 50% share of the place. When Liz returns, she is given the role of assistant manager and is seen behind the bar more often than Steve and Michelle. The reason for this is that Steve still has his taxi-firm business, StreetCars and is struggling to cope with running two businesses. Michelle advise Steve to sell his share of the taxi-firm to his friend and current business partner, Lloyd, which he agrees to.

text: In December 2013, when Michelle's friend, Carla Connor (Alison King), marries Steve's friend, Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne), Steve and Michelle help plan the wedding, which prompts them to begin a party planning business together. However, a few months later, Steve is shocked to discover that Peter is having an affair with Tina McIntyre (Michelle Keegan). When the truth is revealed, Carla says that she is going to kill Tina and is prime suspect in her murder investigation when she is found lying dead on the pavement. When Michelle discovers that Steve knew about Tina and Peter's affair, she dumps him, packs her bags and moves in with Carla. However, they get back together within a week and begin to save up for a holiday home in Spain.

text: In January 2015, Steve is diagnosed with clinical depression and not wanting Michelle to have to cope with him, he decides to end their relationship without giving her any explanation. This leads Michelle to believe that he does not love her anymore. Whilst driving the Underworld staff to an awards' ceremony for Carla to accept an award, Steve is chased by some boy racers who eventually cut him up and cause him to swerve. Steve crashes the minibus, leaving the staff trapped in the wreckage. Steve is the first person to awaken from unconsciousness, and wanders off to leave the others to deal with the traumatic situation. Whilst at the hospital, Steve tells Michelle that he has depression and that this is the reason why he ended their relationship. Michelle promises to help him recover.

text: In March 2015, Michelle discovers that Steve owes £10,000 in tax which Steve had been ignoring for the past few months. Liz's boyfriend, Tony Stewart (Terence Maynard) offers to lend him the money to clear his debt, but after starting an affair with Tracy, the couple plan to take the Rovers from the McDonald's so Tony lies to Steve and tells him that he needs his money back to pay off some loan sharks. Subsequently, Steve proposes to Michelle in the back room of The Rovers. However, Steve is convinced that Michelle doesn't really want to marry him, and only said yes out of pity, so he calls off the engagement. Later, Steve finds a candlelight dinner prepared in the back of The Rovers, and he assumes that Tony has prepared the meal for Liz, and calls Tony out in front of a busy pub at the Butler Auction. Michelle then confesses that it was actually her who had prepared it for both of them, and calls Steve up onto the stage to explain that she had said yes to him because she loves him. Michelle then proposes to Steve, getting the engagement back on track.

text: In May 2015, after some persuasion from Liz, a reluctant Steve agrees to sell his share of the Rovers to a company called "Travis Limited", who, unbeknownst to everyone, is actually Tony. Tony then persuades Liz into selling her share of the pub to Travis Ltd, in order to start a new life in Spain. However, Michelle's best friend Carla steps in and offers to buy Liz's share of the pub, which not only settles Michelle's worries about being kicked out of their home, but Liz accepts asking Tony why it would be better to sell to a stranger rather to someone that they know and trust. Carla then promises to keep Steve and Michelle as the pub managers. On 26 May 2015, after a total of seven years of an on-and-off relationship, Steve and Michelle finally marry.

text:
Steve leaves to stay with Andy for a while in Spain, he later returns for Michelle's birthday. Steve is furious with Michelle when he learns that she kissed an ex-boyfriend, Will Chatterton (Leon Ockenden). Michelle plans to leave for a job on a cruise ship when her attempts to get Steve to forgive her fail. Steve and Michelle later reconcile. Steve sleeps with Leanne Battersby (Jane Danson) and she becomes pregnant. Steve told Liz that he got Leanne pregnant and explain it was one night stand that he thought Michelle had gone to cruise ship. Leanne informs Steve of her intention to keep the unborn child. Steve decides to keep his involvement a secret and having nothing to do with the unborn child. Michelle then expresses an interest of having children of their own. Steve agrees to have a baby after speaking to Dev Alahan (Jimmi Harkishin). Michelle then also falls pregnant, but unfortunately delivers their baby boy, Ruairi, at 23 weeks. The baby doesn't survive,  leaving both Michelle and Steve devastated. Michelle then finds out that Leanne's baby, Oliver, is Steve's baby, after their one night stand, Michelle then leaves Steve for good, unable to forgive him.   In Spring 2017, Steve found out that Michelle had an affair with Tracy's ex-husband, Robert Preston to his dismay. Michelle then begins a relationship with Robert and divorces Steve.
He then tries to make a go of things with Leanne, so they can be a family, due to them having Oliver. Steve proposes and Leanne accepts.  They both later realise their relationship won't work as they don't love one another, but agree to be friends.
Steve then starts dating Tracy again, despite the disapproval of Liz, and Amy.

text: Casting[edit]

text: Simon Gregson began his time in Coronation Street at the age of fifteen in 1989, when he and Nicholas Cochrane were selected to play the teenage twin sons of a new family in The Street.  Whilst filming with the soap opera he filmed a guest appearance for the comedy series Red Dwarf, alongside fellow actor Craig Charles (who plays the lead character in the comedy). Craig Charles has played Lloyd Mullaney in Coronation Street since 2005.[1] In September 2015, it was announced that Gregson had taken an extended break from the show for "personal reasons" and that Steve would be off-screen for several months. He would also not appear in the upcoming live episode, but would feature in the episodes either sides of it.[2] Steve departed in November 2015, but returned in April 2016.

text: Development[edit]

text: Relationship with Karen Phillips[edit]

text: Steve began a relationship with Karen Phillips played by Suranne Jones. Rick Fulton of the Daily Record noted that Karen vows to be more "wily" with her romantic interests after seeing her friend Bobbi "wrapping boyfriend Vikram around her little finger". Her friend and colleague Janice makes a series of bets with Karen regarding how new boyfriend Steve treats her: this culminates in Janice betting Karen that she can get Steve to propose to her. Of the storyline, Suranne Jones stated that: "Karen can't believe she's on the verge of getting married for a bet". She characterises Karen as "not the type of girl to back out of a tricky situation" and states that she and Steve find themselves "in a game of bluff" with each "waiting for the other to pull out."[3] Simon Gregson, felt the marriage was "quite fitting" and that his character "thinks it's a bit of a laugh". The wedding scenes were filmed on 6 May 2001 and screened on 30 May 2001.[4] Billy Sloan of the Sunday Mail stated that the scenes were "guaranteed to provide a bit of light relief" after serious storylines such as the rape of Toyah Battersby and Alma Halliwell's cancer diagnosis. Suranne Jones felt that Steve was "definitely the man for Karen" as the two characters had "similar personalities". She stated that Karen had dumped her previous boyfriend, Vikram, because he "wasn't racy enough and doesn't have the edge Steve has".[5]

text: In September 2001 Suranne Jones stated that she "[feels] sorry for Steve sometimes" in regard to Karen's negative characteristics. She indicated that she'd "love to see Steve and Karen having the same impact on viewers as Dirty Den and Angie did".[6] In November 2001 the two characters fall out because Karen insults Steve's mother Liz, though they later end up back together.[7] Discussing the success of the pairing, Simon Gregson compared Steve and Karen to "a mini Jack and Vera" with "the shouting and the arguments" and "the feistiness of the characters". He added that Steve and Karen "can't live with each other and can't live without each other". Gregson also remarked that the relationship  was "going back to what Coronation Street set out to be" which he felt to be "hen-pecked husbands and very strong women".[8]

text: Relationship with Becky Granger[edit]

text: Steve embarked on an affair with fellow resident Becky Granger portrayed by (Katherine Kelly). Kelly revealed that she felt Steve was the best man for Becky over her previous lover Jason, stating: "Both boys bring out different things in Becky. With Jason, they liked going clubbing, and it was no strings attached, I think Becky needs more than that, even though she wouldn't admit it. I think, long-term, Steve's better for her."[9] When Gregson was interviewed by entertainment website Digital Spy, he was asked if he thought that Steve has had a positive impact on Becky's life. In reply he stated: "I think he's turned it around. She was all over the place getting into trouble all the time but he's made her grow up. And having a little girl there in Amy, that's made her grow a bit, too. She's got responsibilities now. She's besotted with him. She's still a total pisshead, though!"[10] Steve and Becky attempted to marry twice in 2009, their first wedding was given a promotional push from ITV who aired adverts for the first wedding episodes.[11] Their relationship was featured in a series of romantic plots which ITV dubbed the "Summer of Love" season of the soap, with advertisements airing.[12]

text: Depression and reunion with Michelle Connor[edit]

text: In 2014, Producer Stuart Blackburn revealed that Steve's depression storyline was going to be a big storyline, stating: "It's going to run through the autumn and build up from there. On Christmas Day and beyond, we'll see a real challenge to Steve and Michelle's relationship. I absolutely know that Simon Gregson and Kym Marsh are very good actors. I hope that the great comedy that Steve brings will absolutely be on screen for the next decade and onwards, but I also wanted to explore a story where Steve looked in the mirror on his 40th birthday and started to wonder whether he was really good enough for Michelle. He also blamed himself for Lloyd's heart attack and he feels guilty for his role in what happened to Tina. Steve is taking a long, hard look at himself and he's not liking what he sees. It's going to run from there, and there will still be comedy in the lead-up as Steve tries to hide away from the demons in his head. Fundamentally what I wanted to do is tell what will hopefully be a really positive, uplifting love story between Michelle and Steve."[13]

text: In January 2015, it was revealed that Steve would reunite Michelle Connor (Kym Marsh) in the aftermath of the upcoming mini bus crash storyline.[14] It was also confirmed that Steve and Michelle would be the next Weatherfield couple to tie the knot. Speaking of this Marsh said; "I'm delighted, absolutely delighted. It'll be weird after being Michelle Connor for nearly nine years, but it totally makes sense for us as characters. Simon and I love working together, and nobody likes to see us broken up." It was also revealed that Michelle would get "feisty" again when her Steve is blamed for the mini-bus crash.[15]

text: Kym Marsh also revealed that Michelle and Steve's mum Liz would clash over the best course of action for Steve. With Michelle now focused solely on helping Steve to get better with his depression following their reconciliation, she faces opposition from his mum Liz as it becomes apparent that they have very different approaches. While Liz adopts a "tough love" approach with her son, Michelle thinks they should tread more carefully around him, worried about his vulnerable state. Marsh said: "They both obviously want to help Steve but because both of them are so worried about him and love him so much - they both want to help him in their own way. Understandably they clash as they're both so concerned about him. They both have different approaches - Liz is more of the tough love approach and tries to get Steve up and doing things, whereas Michelle is much more trying the softly-softly approach." Marsh added: "Liz doesn't think it's the best way because Michelle is so protective of Steve and doesn't want to hurt or upset him. After everything that's happened with the crash, Michelle thinks they should go easy on him." Despite the disagreement, Marsh believed that the pair would be able to put their differences aside eventually in order to work together to help Steve.[16]

text: Leanne's and Michelle's pregnancies[edit]

text: In June 2016, it was announced Leanne would fall pregnant following a one-night stand.[17] The father was revealed as Steve. Gregson said that his character may have gone "a step too far" and that "he has to keep Michelle". Marsh added that her character would "make Steve's life hell" if she found out.[18] Danson said Leanne and Michelle will also be "forced" to be friends after Michelle finds out she is pregnant with Steve's child, and that "it's just really awkward". Danson also stated that Leanne wants to forget the McDonalds and raise the child with Nick. Liz also finds out, and Gail is "thrilled when she finds out" and that the situation, "It's like a little pressure cooker, it's all waiting to blow". Danson also says the storyline "provokes a lot of stories for a lot of other characters and it's how they will deal with the repercussions".[19] Steve being the father will have implications on Leanne and Nick's relationship and a spark a rivalry between Steve and Nick. Producer Kate Oates said "Nick is persistent and Nick adores her" and the storyline will see if they can overcome Leanne being pregnant with another man's child.[20]

text: Other appearances[edit]

text: A four-part spin-off series entitled Street Car Stories was released in February 2014 and featured comic scenes between Steve and Lloyd Mullaney (Craig Charles) in the Street Cars cab office.

text: Reception[edit]

text: Steve McDonald has proven to be one of the most popular characters on the Street in recent years due to high-profile storylines, such as his dodgy dealings with Jez Quigley and his explosive relationships with Karen McDonald and Tracy Barlow. At the 2004 Inside Soap Awards, the Tracy/Steve baby secret won the 'Best Storyline' gong.[21] The presence of the McDonald family on Coronation Street and Steve in particular have been singled out for praise.[22] In a 2008 interview with The Sun, Simon Gregson expressed his delight with the character's "bad-boy" image, saying that the producers were of the same opinion.[23] Critic Tony Stewart praised the episodes in which Steve discovered that Lloyd and Liz were having a fling, calling it "pure comedy gold, full of wicked laugh-out-loud one-liners..."[24] Ian Wylie has been very impressed with Simon Gregson's performance as Steve saying, "his on screen performance remains as fresh as the day he started".[25]

text: Over the years, storylines involving Steve McDonald have received some negative backlash. In 2002, the Broadcasting Standards Commission criticised Coronation Street for being "unacceptably menacing" in regard to the hospital scene where Steve was threatened by Jez Quigley, broadcast two years previously. A spokeswoman for the soap defended the controversial storyline saying; "We are a realistic drama and we did flag up the fact there was going to be violence in the Steve McDonald episode. We are mindful that Coronation Street has a large family audience and endeavour to appeal to young and old at all times."[26] In 2008, a leading policeman blamed Coronation Street for glamorising drink driving. He pointed out that Street's cab driver McDonald was regularly seen drinking in the Rovers Return – setting a bad example to drivers.[27]

text: In February 2009, Steve McDonald was voted the nation's favourite soap character in a poll conducted by The People newspaper. Talking about the victory Gregson stated; "Oh my God, I am chuffed. I'm delighted people enjoy watching Steve and the scrapes he gets into. And I'm pleased people like to watch him as much as I love playing him."[28]

text: Gregson was nominated in the category of "Best Actor" at The British Soap Awards 2011.[29] He won the "Funniest Male" award at the 2013 Inside Soap Awards.[30] He also won "Best Comedy Performance" at The British Soap Awards 2014.[31] In August 2017, Gregson was longlisted for Best Actor and Funniest Male at the Inside Soap Awards, while the death of Steve and Michelle's son was longlisted for Best Show-Stopper and Steve revealing himself as Oliver's father was longlisted for Best Shock Twist.[32] While Steve revealing himself as Oliver's father did not make the shortlist, Gregson's three other nominations did.[33] Gregson did not win any awards at the ceremony.[34]


document_title: House of Fraser

question_text: when was jenner's bought by house of fraser

question_tokens: when was jenner 's bought by house of fraser

text: House of Fraser

text: History[edit]

text: The early years[edit]

text: The Company was founded by Hugh Fraser and James Arthur in 1849 as a small drapery shop on the corner of Argyle Street and Buchanan Street in Glasgow, Scotland trading as Arthur and Fraser.[1]

text: Hugh Fraser had been apprenticed to Stewart & McDonald Ltd, a Glasgow drapery warehouse where he rose to the position of warehouse manager and from where he brought many of initial customers.[1]

text: James Arthur also owned a retail drapery business in Paisley, near Glasgow: he appointed a manager to oversee the Paisley business while he focused on his new business.[1]

text: The Company established a wholesale trade in adjoining premises in Argyle Street. In 1856 the wholesale business moved to a larger site in Miller Street, Glasgow and started to trade under the name Arthur & Co. The retail side of the business expanded into the vacant buildings left by the wholesale side.[1]

text: During the late 1850s and early 1860s the retail business was run by a professional manager – first Thomas Kirkpatrick and then Alexander McLaren.[1] In 1865 the partnership between the partners was dissolved and Fraser assumed control of the retail business leaving Arthur with the wholesale business. In 1865 Alexander McLaren joined the retail business and the name was changed to Fraser & McLaren.[1]

text: Fraser & Sons[edit]

text: When the first Hugh Fraser died in 1873, his three eldest sons, James, John and Hugh, acquired stakes in the business. James and John Fraser were initially directors in the business and employed Alexander McLaren and later John Towers to manage it for them. In 1891 Hugh also joined the partnership which by then was called Fraser & Sons.[1]

text: In 1879, the current flagship store on Oxford Street in London was opened by Dan Harries Evans, a 23-year-old from Whitemill in Carmarthenshire, Wales who had previously been apprenticed to a draper in Forest hamlet near Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. He moved to London in 1878 to set up his own business in Westminster Bridge Road. The store traded under the D H Evans name until 2001.[1]

text: By 1900, Hugh Fraser II was in charge: he incorporated the business as Fraser & Sons Ltd in 1909 and introduced the famous stag's head.[1]

text: After Hugh Fraser II died in 1927, his son Hugh Fraser III, an accountant, became Chairman of the business.[1] He opened new departments, enlarged the tearoom, opened a restaurant and also began to look at possible acquisitions.[1] In 1936 he purchased Arnott & Co Ltd and its neighbour Robert Simpson & Sons Ltd in nearby Argyle Street, merging the companies to help improve trade.[1] In 1948 the Company, now named House of Fraser, was first listed on the London Stock Exchange.[1]

text: 1950s to 1970s[edit]

text: In 1951, the Company purchased McDonald's Ltd, and with it a branch in Harrogate. Fraser then purchased the Scottish Drapery Corporation in 1952, followed by the Sunderland based Binns group of stores in 1953.[1]

text: Fraser sold the property sites to insurance companies, leasing them back for long terms at advantageous rates. This enabled the release of capital for the purchase of new premises and the modernisation of existing stores. In 1957 the Kensington store group of John Barker & Co Ltd was acquired and in 1959 Harrods[1] and Dickins & Jones[4] also joined the Group.

text: Sir Hugh Fraser succeeded his father as Chairman of the company when his father died in 1966.[1] Sir Hugh resumed the expansion of the company in 1969 with the takeover of J. J. Allen Ltd, a Bournemouth based group.[1]

text: During the 1970s, the House of Fraser Group acquired more companies including: T. Baird & Sons Ltd of Scotland, Switzer & Co. Ltd, Dublin, Ireland and E. Dingle & Co. Ltd, Chiesmans Ltd, Hide & Co and the Army & Navy Stores in southern England, as well as a number of independent stores, totalling over fifty stores during the decade.[1] In 1973 the House of Fraser Group was considering merging with the British pharmacy company Boots, and was even subject to a written answer in the House of Commons.[5] The government decided to ban the proposed merger in 1974.[6]

text: 1980s and 1990s[edit]

text: In 1981, Prof. Roland Smith succeeded Sir Hugh Fraser as chairman. A takeover bid by Lonrho was referred to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission and declared to be contrary to the public interest.[1] Four new stores opened between 1980 and 1984.[1] which included D H Evans in Wood Green, North London, in 1980, Dickins & Jones in Milton Keynes, in 1981, Frasers in Perth in April 1984 and Dickins & Jones in Epsom, Surrey, in May 1984.

text: The company, by then House of Fraser plc, diversified into sports goods under the name of Astral Sports and Leisure (subsequently sold to Sears plc owned Olympus Sport division) and into funerals with Wylie & Lochhead. It also launched the YOU range of cosmetics and jewellery shops and in 1985 acquired Turnbull & Asser Holdings Ltd, shirt makers of Jermyn Street, London and Kurt Geiger Holdings Ltd, shoe retailers.[1] Other developments during the 1980s included the introduction of "Lifestyle" merchandise ranges and a huge investment in store refurbishment nationwide. In 1983 the Company introduced the Frasercard, valid at all stores and administered from a central computing facility in Swindon.[1]

text: In 1985, the Al Fayed family bought the business for £615 million. The Al Fayeds supported the continuing expansion of the Company and replaced the stag's head logo with a stag leaping from a green triangle with shop signs of this period using a double layered san serif typeface.[1][7] In 1988, a five-year strategic business plan was announced which saw a rationalisation of stores. Small branches were to be relinquished and replaced with larger units.

text: In September 1990, two new department stores were opened, a House of Fraser in the Meadowhall Shopping Centre in Sheffield, and Schofields in Leeds. In 1991, a new House of Fraser store was opened at the Lakeside Shopping Centre in West Thurrock, Essex.

text: In 1994, before House of Fraser plc was relisted on the London Stock Exchange, Harrods was moved out of the Group so that it could remain under the private ownership of the Al Fayed family.[1] John Coleman, who was appointed chief executive of the House of Fraser Group in 1996, launched the Linea brand in 1997 and Platinum and Fraser the following year.[1] The House of Fraser logo was revised in 1996 with the leaping stag now going over an "F" shadow and shop signs using a serif typeface.[7] There were many store closures in this period which included the closure or selling off of branches in locations including Sheffield (House of Fraser), Newcastle (Binns), Sunderland (Binns), Bradford (Rackhams) and Leeds (Schofields which had closed only six years after opening although House of Fraser continued to have a presence with their Rackhams (now House of Fraser store) in the city) with the loss of around 1,000 jobs.[8]

text: House of Fraser set up BL Fraser, a 50–50 joint venture with the British Land Company, in 1999 to buy 15 House of Fraser stores that would continue to be operated by House of Fraser. The Company added to its private-label brands in 2000 with House of Fraser womenswear, The Collection menswear, and a Linea Home line.[1]

text: 2000s to present[edit]

text: In 2003, Tom Hunter put forward a hostile bid for the Group, with the possible intention to merge with Allders, another department store he had shareholdings in.[9] In addition there was a large reduction in the number of House of Fraser stores in Scotland which included the sell off or closure of branches in Aberdeen (Frasers), Dundee (Arnotts), Inverness (Frasers), Paisley (Arnotts) and Perth (Frasers).

text: 2005 was a significant year of growth for House of Fraser with the acquisition of the four Jenners department stores in April for £46m,[10] and Beatties, a mainly Midlands based department store chain of 12 sites, for £69.3m in the summer of 2005.[11] In addition to buying companies, House of Fraser continued its own development programme and opened several more stores including its first store outside the UK in Dundrum Town Centre, Dublin, Ireland.[12] as well as stores in Maidstone and Norwich.

text: In 2006, the Company consolidated its portfolio by closing the 135-year-old Barkers business in Kensington High Street on 2 January 2006.[13] and on 14 January 2006, closed its Dickins & Jones store in London's Regent Street following a large increase in the rent,.[14] In addition, the Company closed its Birmingham Beatties store in January 2006 (although retained the House of Fraser store in Birmingham)[15]

text: In February 2006, the Group announced that it had received a preliminary bid approach valuing it at £300 million, and in August 2006 House of Fraser confirmed a takeover approach from the Highland consortium who acquired the Company for £351.4 million in November 2006.[16] As part of the Highland takeover all brand names for their stores, including most of the Beatties branches, will be replaced with the House of Fraser name (with the exception of Jenners) with the stag logo axed and a new san serif typeface used on shop signs.[17]

text: In September 2007, House of Fraser launched its online store.[18]

text: The Company had four major openings in 2008, including its first store in Northern Ireland in the newly built Victoria Square Centre, Belfast in March. At 120,000 sq ft (11,000 m2) it was the largest store that House of Fraser had opened (as opposed to taken over) in the UK.[19] Also in March 2008, the Company opened a 95,000 sq ft (8,800 m2) store in High Wycombe. On 25 September 2008 the Company opened a 100,000 sq ft (9,300 m2) store in the Cabot Circus development in Bristol,[20] and a branch in Westfield London, a new 70,000 sq ft (6,500 m2) store, on 30 October 2008.[21]

text: House of Fraser launched the House of Fraser.com 'buy & collect' concept shop in October 2011 with its first location in Aberdeen. A further site, in Liverpool, opened in 2012.[22] These small shops were equipped with computer terminals to allow customers to order from the House of Fraser website. Both shops had closed by the summer of 2016.

text: In December 2013, talks to takeover House of Fraser were held by French department store Galeries Lafayette with House of Fraser also exploring a floating on the London Stock Exchange in the summer of 2014 if the takeover is to be abandoned.[23]

text: In April 2014, it was reported by the BBC that House of Fraser would be sold to Chinese conglomerate Sanpower, who would obtain 89% share in the company which would value the business at about £450 million.[24]

text: Nanjing Xinjiekou Department Store Company will buy an 89 percent stake in Highland Group Holdings Ltd, which owns U.K. department store chain House of Fraser.[25] The purchase is worth £450 million.[25] Sanpower Group is a 22 percent shareholder of the Nanjing Xinjiekou Department Store Company.[25]

text: In 2017 a new department store opened at the Rushden Lakes development in Rushden, Northamptonshire. The closure of House of Fraser Outlet in Leicester also took place during the year and two further closures, in Aylesbury and Edinburgh, were announced for 2018. A new store in Chester was announced in February 2017 with construction due to start in mid 2018.:

text: Corporate governance and social responsibility[edit]

text: House of Fraser is a principal subsidiary of Highland Group Holdings Limited, 35% owned by Landsbanki.[26]

text: Operations[edit]

text: House of Fraser is the third largest group of traditional department stores in the UK with 60 stores, sited in a mixture of town and city centre and regional shopping centre locations. House of Fraser Outlet stores in Doncaster and Swindon sell reduced price and clearance items in a discount department store environment.[citation needed]

text: House of Fraser also has one of the fastest growing websites in the UK and in 2012, web sales represented 11% of the group’s sales.[citation needed]

text: IT Partner[edit]

text: House of Fraser IT is supported by Capgemini since 2010. Recently their contract was renewed. Capgemini will extend its current remit with House of Fraser in order to support the retailer’s ongoing IT simplification strategy. Capgemini will continue to provide IT infrastructure and application support, alongside additional new services designed to unlock further innovation across House of Fraser’s IT network.

text: These will include the delivery of Capgemini’s Digital Service Desk, which provides employees with multi-channel mobile access to resolve IT issues quickly, and next generation Application Development and Maintenance platform, a business process oriented, industrialised approach to service to drive efficiencies across the retailer’s applications estate. Capgemini will enable the cost-efficiency of these additional services through its Automation Drive tools and IP, and a programme of continuous service improvements.

text: House of Fraser signed a multi-year contract with Infosys to develop its business channel and IT infrastructure and to expand its global footprint. This deal was signed in the presence of Mr. Yuan Yafei, Chairman, Sanpower Group and Dr. Vishal Sikka, Chief Executive Officer, Infosys.[27]

text: Department stores[edit]

text: This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

tag: table

text: All stores now trade under the 'House of Fraser' name, except where stated otherwise.

text: England[edit]

text:
Altrincham, Rackhams (formerly Brown Muff; opened 1978)
Bath, Jollys (acquired 1971)
Birkenhead (formerly Beatties and originally Allansons; acquired 2005)
Birmingham (formerly Rackhams; acquired 1959)
Bournemouth (formerly Dingles and originally Brights; acquired 1969)
Bristol (opened 2008)
Camberley (formerly Army & Navy and originally William Harvey; acquired 1973)
Carlisle (formerly Binns and originally Robinson Brothers; acquired 1953)
Cheltenham, Cavendish House (acquired 1969)
Chichester (formerly Army & Navy and originally J D Morant; acquired 1973)
Cirencester (formerly Rackhams and originally Frederick Boulton; acquired 1975)
Croydon (opened 2004)
Darlington (formerly Binns (Binns branding remains) and originally Arthur Sanders; acquired 1953)
Epsom (formerly Dickins & Jones; opened 1984)
Exeter (formerly Dingles and originally Colsons; acquired 1969)
Gateshead, Metro Centre (opened 1986)
Greenhithe, Bluewater (opened 1999)
Grimsby (formerly Binns and originally Guy & Smith; acquired 1969)
Guildford (formerly Army & Navy and originally William Harvey; acquired 1973)
High Wycombe (opened 2008)
Huddersfield (formerly Beatties; acquired 2005)
Hull (formerly Hammonds; acquired 1972)
King William Street, London (opened 2003)
Leamington Spa (formerly Rackhams, prior to that Army & Navy and originally Burgis & Colbourne; acquired 1973)
Leeds (formerly Rackhams, prior to that the temporary premises of Schofields and originally the Leeds branch of Woolworths; acquired 1988)
Lincoln (formerly Binns and originally Mawer & Collingham; acquired 1980)
Maidstone (opened 2005)
Manchester (formerly Kendals / Kendal Milne & Co.; acquired 1959)
Middlesbrough (formerly Binns and originally Thomas Jones; acquired 1953)
Milton Keynes (formerly Dickins & Jones; opened 1981)
Norwich (opened 2005)
Nottingham (opened 1997)
Oxford Street, London (formerly D H Evans; acquired 1959)
Plymouth (formerly Dingles / E Dingle & Co.; acquired 1971)
Reading (opened 1999)
Richmond upon Thames (formerly Dickins & Jones, opened 1970 on site of Gosling & Sons, acquired 1957)
Rushden, Rushden Lakes (opened 2017)
Sheffield, Meadowhall (opened 1990)
Shrewsbury (formerly Rackhams and originally Joseph Della Porta; acquired 1975)
Skipton, Rackhams (formerly Brown Muff and originally Amblers; acquired 1977)
Solihull (formerly Beatties; acquired 2005)
Sutton Coldfield (formerly Beatties; acquired 2005)
Telford (formerly Beatties; acquired 2005)
Victoria Street, London (formerly Army & Navy / Army & Navy Stores; acquired 1973)
West Thurrock, Lakeside (opened 1991)
White City, Westfield London (opened 2008)
Wolverhampton, Beatties (acquired 2005)
Worcester (formerly Beatties; acquired 2005)

tag: ul

text: Northern Ireland[edit]

text: Belfast (opened 2008)

text: Scotland[edit]

text:
Balloch, Loch Lomond Shores, Jenners (acquired 2005)
Edinburgh, Frasers (formerly Binns and originally Robert Maule & Son; acquired 1953)
Edinburgh, Jenners (acquired 2005)
Glasgow, Frasers (formerly McDonald's Wylie & Lochhead and originally McDonald's and Wylie & Lochhead; acquired 1951 and 1957 respectively)

text: Wales[edit]

text:
Cardiff (formerly Howells / James Howell & Co.; acquired 1972)
Cwmbran (formerly David Evans; acquired 1978)

text: Republic of Ireland[edit]

text: Dundrum (opened 2005)

text: House of Fraser Outlet stores[edit]

text:
Doncaster (formerly Binns, prior to that the Doncaster branch of Owen Owen and originally Verity & Sons; acquired 1975)
Swindon (formerly House of Fraser; opened 1996)

text: Defunct brands[edit]

text: House of Fraser previously traded under many different long established brand names. A number of regional groups of stores were acquired and subsequently extended or amalgamated. The Arnotts and Frasers groups were created by House of Fraser from scratch. These key groups together with the flagship store of each one and the regions to which they are largely associated are:

text:
Army & Navy, Victoria Street, London and south-east England
Arnotts, mid-market stores in Glasgow and across Scotland
Binns, Sunderland, the north and east of England
Dickins & Jones, Regent Street, London and the home counties
Dingles, Plymouth and south-west England
David Evans, Swansea and south Wales
Frasers, up-market stores in Glasgow and other principal Scottish cities
Rackhams, Birmingham, the midlands and the north of England. Branches in Altrincham and Skipton still bear the Rackhams name.

text: Former branches[edit]

text: The following department stores have closed:

text:
Aberdeen, Arnotts (formerly Isaac Benzie)
Aberdeen, Frasers (formerly Falconers / John Falconer; closed 2002)
Aberdeen, A & R Milne
Aberdeen, Reid & Pearson
Aberdeen, R J Smith
Aberdeen, Watt & Grant
Airdrie, Arnotts (formerly Bairds)
Aldershot, Army & Navy (formerly Thomas White)
Arbroath, Arnotts (formerly Soutars)
Aviemore, Arnotts
Aylesbury (formerly Beatties; acquired 2005, closed 2017)
Banff, Arnotts (formerly Benzie & Miller and originally Rankin & Co.)
Basildon, Army & Navy (formerly Taylors)
Bath, Cavendish House (amalgamated with Jollys)
Bellshill, Arnotts (formerly Bairds)
Bingley, Brown Muff (formerly Pratts)
Birmingham, Beatties (formerly the Birmingham branch of C & A; closed 2006)
Blackpool, Binns (formerly R H O Hills)
Bournemouth, J J Allen
Bradford, Rackhams (formerly Brown Muff / Brown, Muff & Co.; closed 1995)
Bridlington, Binns (formerly Hammonds and originally Carltons)
Brigg, Binns (formerly Lacey & Clark)
Bristol, Dingles (formerly Brights, prior to that the Bristol branch of Bobby & Co. and originally John Cordeux & Sons)
Bristol, House of Fraser (formerly the Bristol branch of Bentalls, prior to that John Lewis and originally Lewis's; closed 2008)
Bristol, Jollys
Bromley, Army & Navy (formerly Harrison Gibson; closed 2004)
Burton upon Trent, Beatties (acquired 2005, closed 29 September 2012)
Cardiff, H L Reid
Cardiff, Seccombes
Coatbridge, Arnotts (formerly Bairds)
Crouch End, James H Wilson
Dingwall, Arnotts (formerly Alexander Henderson)
Doncaster, Brown Muff
Dorchester, Dingles (formerly Army & Navy and originally Genge & Co.)
Drumchapel, Arnotts (formerly Thomas Muirhead, relocated from Glasgow)
Dudley, Beatties (closed 2010)
Dumfries, Binns (formerly Robinson Brothers)
Dundee, Arnotts (formerly D M Brown; closed 2002)
Dundee, Alexander Ewing & Co.
Eastbourne, Army & Navy (formerly Barkers and originally Dale & Kerley; closed 1997)
East Kilbride, Arnotts (formerly Bairds)
Edinburgh, Peter Allan
Edinburgh, Arnotts (formerly J & R Allan)
Edinburgh, Arnotts (formerly Patrick Thomson)
Edinburgh, J D Blair & Son
Edinburgh, Darling & Co.
Edinburgh, William Small & Sons
Elgin, Arnotts (formerly Benzie & Miller and originally A L Ramsay & Son)
Epsom, Chiesmans
Evesham, Rightons
Falkirk, Arnotts (formerly Bairds)
Falmouth, Dingles (formerly Cox & Horder)
Fraserburgh, Benzie & Miller (closed 1968)
Glasgow, Arnotts (formerly Arnott Simpson and originally Arnott & Co. and Robert Simpson & Sons)
Glasgow, Copland & Lye
Glasgow, Dallas's
Glasgow, Dalys
Glasgow, Duncans
Glasgow, Fraser, Sons & Co. (closed 1975 – business transferred to McDonald's Wylie & Lochhead store opposite)
Glasgow, Pettigrew & Stephens
Glasgow, Thomas Muirhead (relocated to Drumchapel)
Glasgow, Wood & Selby
Gravesend, Army & Navy (formerly Chiesmans and originally Bon Marche)
Greenock, Arnotts (formerly D & A Prentice)
Greenock, J & S Shannon
Harrogate, Binns (formerly Edward J Clarke)
Harrogate, Schofields (formerly Cresta House and originally the Harrogate branch of Marshall & Snelgrove)
Helston, Dingles (formerly B Thomas)
Hove, Army & Navy (formerly Chiesmans, prior to that Stuart Norris and originally Driscolls)
Ilford, Army & Navy (formerly Chiesmans and originally Burnes)
Inverness, Arnotts (formerly Benzie & Miller and originally Young & Chapman; closed 2003)
Irvine, Arnotts
Islington, T R Roberts
Kensington, Barkers / John Barker & Co. (closed 2006)
Kensington, Derry & Toms (closed 1973)
Kensington, Pontings / Ponting Brothers (closed 1970)
Kilmarnock, Arnotts (formerly Frasers and originally Hugh Lauder & Co.)
Kingston upon Thames, Army & Navy (formerly Chiesmans and originally Hide & Co.)
Kirkcaldy, Arnotts (formerly Sutters)
Leeds, Schofields (closed 1996)
Leicester, House of Fraser Outlet (formerly Rackhams; opened 1991; closed 2017)
Leicester, Rackhams (formerly Morgan Squire; acquired 1969; closed 1990)
Lewisham, Army & Navy (formerly Chiesmans)
Liverpool, Binns (formerly Hendersons / William Henderson & Sons)
Liverpool, House of Fraser.com (opened 2011; closed 2013)[28]
Maidstone, Army & Navy (formerly T C Dunning & Son; closed 2005)
Maidstone, Chiesmans (formerly Denniss Paine)
Motherwell, Arnotts (formerly Bairds)
Newcastle upon Tyne, Binns (formerly James Coxon; closed 1994)
Newport, Isle of Wight, Army & Navy (formerly Chiesmans and originally Morris)
Newquay, Dingles (formerly Hawke & Thomas)
Newton Abbot, Dingles (formerly William Badcock & Son)
Newton Abbot, J F Rockhey
Newton Abbot, Henry Warren & Son
Northampton, House of Fraser (formerly Beatties; acquired 2005; closed 2014)
Oswestry, Bradleys
Oxford, Webbers (closed 1971)
Paisley, Arnotts (formerly Robert Cochran & Son; closed 2003)
Paisley, Fraser & Love
Penzance, Dingles (formerly John Polglase)
Perth, Frasers (closed 2002)
Perth, Gordon & Stanfield
Perth, D A Wallace & Co.
Peterhead, Benzie & Miller (destroyed by fire 1977)
Plymouth, Pophams
Port Glasgow, Bairds
Port Talbot, David Evans (formerly W J Williams)
Portsmouth, John Anstiss
Regent Street, London, Dickins & Jones (closed 2006)
Rochester, Army & Navy (formerly Chiesmans and originally Leonards)
St Albans, Army & Navy (formerly W S Green)
Salisbury, Dingles (formerly Clark & Lonnen)
Scunthorpe, Binns (closed 1997)
Sheffield, House of Fraser (formerly Rackhams and originally Walshs / John Walsh; closed 1998)
Shotts, Arnotts (formerly Bairds)
Shrewsbury, Grocott & Co.
Southend-on-Sea, Army & Navy (formerly Chiesmans and prior to that the Southend branch of J R Roberts)
Southport, Alexanders
South Shields, Binns (formerly Fowler & Brock; closed 1995)
Spalding, Berrills
Sunderland, Binns (closed 1993)
Swansea, David Evans
Torquay, Dingles (formerly J F Rockhey)
Trowbridge, Dingles (formerly Fear Hill)
Truro, Dingles (formerly Criddle & Smith)
Tunbridge Wells, Army & Navy (formerly Chiesmans and originally Waymarks)
Upton Park, Army & Navy (formerly Chiesmans and originally John Lewis)
West Hartlepool, Binns (formerly Gray Peverell; closed 1994)
Whifflet, Arnotts (formerly Bairds)
Winchester, Army & Navy (formerly Chiesmans)
Wishaw, Arnotts (formerly Bairds / T Baird & Sons)
Wolverhampton, Rackhams (formerly Army & Navy and originally Thomas Clarkson & Sons)
Wood Green, A Barton & Co.
Wood Green, D H Evans
Yeovil, Dingles (formerly Gamis's)

text: The following department stores were demerged or sold as going concerns:

text:
Ayr, David Hourston & Sons (traded as Arnotts prior to sale)
Belfast, Robertson Ledlie Ferguson & Co.
Copenhagen, A C Illum
Cork, Cashs
Cork, Robertson Ledlie Ferguson & Co.
Dublin, Switzer & Co.
Galway, Moons
Glasgow, Muir Simpson
Hamilton, Bairds (traded as Arnotts prior to sale)
Knightsbridge, London, Harrods
Limerick, Todds
Richmond upon Thames, Wright Brothers
Stirling, McLachlan & Brown (traded as Frasers prior to sale)
Waterford, Robertson Ledlie Ferguson & Co.


document_title: High-pressure steam locomotive

question_text: maximum steam pressure in locomotive boiler in bar

text: High-pressure steam locomotive

text: The reason for high pressure[edit]

text: Maximising the efficiency of a heat engine depends fundamentally upon getting the temperature at which heat is accepted (i.e. raising steam in the boiler) as far as possible from the temperature at which it is rejected (i.e. the steam when it leaves the cylinder). This was quantified by Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot.

text: There are two options: raise the acceptance temperature or lower the rejection temperature. For a steam engine, the former means raising steam at higher pressure and temperature, which is in engineering terms fairly straightforward. The latter means bigger cylinders to allow the exhaust steam to expand further - and going this direction is limited by the loading gauge - and possibly condensing the exhaust to further lower the rejection temperature. This tends to be self-defeating because of frictional losses in the greatly increased volumes of exhaust steam to be handled.

text: Thus it has often been considered that high pressure is the way to go to improve locomotive fuel efficiency. However, experiments in this direction were always defeated by much increased purchase and maintenance costs. A simpler way to increase the acceptance temperature is to use a modest steam pressure and a superheater.

text: Disadvantages of high pressure[edit]

text: Complexity[edit]

text: High-pressure locomotives were much more complicated than conventional designs. It was not simply a matter of building a normal fire-tube boiler with suitably increased strength and stoking harder. Structural strength requirements in the boiler shell make this impractical; it becomes impossibly thick and heavy. For high steam pressures the water-tube boiler is universally used. The steam drums and their interconnecting tubes are of relatively small diameter with thick walls and therefore much stronger.

text: Scale deposition[edit]

text: The next difficulty is that of scale deposition and corrosion in the boiler tubes. Scale deposited inside the tubes is invisible, usually inaccessible, and a deadly danger, as it leads to local overheating and failure of the tube. This was a major drawback with the early water-tube boilers, such as the Du Temple design, tested on the French Nord network in 1907 and 1910. Water tubes in Royal Navy boilers were checked for blockage by carefully dropping numbered balls down the curved tubes.

text: Safety concerns[edit]

text: A sudden steam leak into the firebox is perilous enough with a conventional boiler- the fire is likely to be blasted out of the firebox door, with unhappy results for anyone in the way. With a high-pressure boiler the results are even more dangerous because of the greater release of energy. This was demonstrated by the Fury tragedy, though the reason for the tube failure in that case was concluded to be overheating due to lack of steam flow rather than scaling.

text: Jacob Perkins[edit]

text: An early experimenter with high-pressure steam was Jacob Perkins. Perkins applied his "hermetic tube" system to steam locomotive boilers and a number of locomotives using this principle were made in 1836 for the London and South Western Railway.

text: The Schmidt system[edit]

text: One way to avoid corrosion and scale problems at high pressure is to use distilled water, as is done in power stations[citation needed]. Dissolved gases such as oxygen and carbon dioxide also cause corrosion at high temperatures and pressures, and must be kept out. Most locomotives did not have condensers, so there was no source of pure feed water. One solution was the Schmidt system;[1]

text: Layout[edit]

text: The Schmidt system used a sealed ultra-high-pressure circuit that simply transferred heat to a high-pressure circuit, by means of heating coils inside a high-pressure boiler. If this latter was fed with ordinary water, scale could form on the outside of the heating coils, but it could not cause overheating because the ultra-HP tubes were quite capable of withstanding their internal steam temperature, though not the firebox flame temperature.

text: Pressures[edit]

text: The sealed ultra-high-pressure circuit ran at between 1,200 and 1,600 psi (8.27 and 11.03 MPa), depending on the rate of firing. The HP boiler worked at approx 850 psi (5.86 MPa), and the low-pressure boiler at 200 to 250 psi (1.38 to 1.72 MPa). The UHP and HP boilers were of a water tube design, while the LP boiler was a fire tube boiler typical for steam locomotives. The LP cylinders were driven with a mixture of the HP cylinder exhaust and the LP boiler output. Both HP and LP boilers had superheaters.

text: Examples[edit]

text: The French PL241P, the German H17-206 and the British LMS 6399 Fury all used the Schmidt system, and were of basically similar design. The New York Central HS-1a and the Canadian 8000 also used the Schmidt system but were a size larger altogether- the 8000 weighed more than twice the Fury.

text: The Schwarzkopff-Löffler system[edit]

text: Another way to avoid scaling in the HP boiler is to use steam alone to transfer the heat from the fire; steam cannot of course deposit scale. Saturated steam from an HP steam generator was pumped through HP superheater tubes which lined the firebox. There it was superheated to about 900 °F (482 °C) and the pressure raised to 1,700 psi (11.72 MPa). Only a quarter of this was fed to the HP cylinders; the rest was returned to the steam generator where its heat evaporated more water to continue the cycle.

text: Steam circuit[edit]

text: The HP cylinder exhaust passed through an LP feed heater, and then the tubes of an LP boiler; this was roughly equivalent to the LP boiler in the Schmidt system, but was heated by HP exhaust steam not combustion gases. Steam was raised in the LP boiler at 225 psi (1.55 MPa), fed to the LP superheater, and then the LP cylinder. The LP exhaust fed the blastpipe in the smokebox. The HP exhaust condensed in the LP boiler heating tubes was pumped back to the HP steam generator. It was a complex system.

text: Example[edit]

text: The only locomotive built using this system was the German DRG H 02 1001 of 1930. It was not a success, being hopelessly unreliable.

text: The straightforward approach[edit]

text: Fire-tube boiler[edit]

text: The Baldwin 60000 prototype worked at a modest 350 psi (2.41 MPa) and did not use either of the complex systems described above. It had a relatively conventional watertube firebox and a firetube boiler. Nevertheless, high maintenance costs and poor reliability more than cancelled the fuel economies promised by high-pressure and compounding, and the design was not repeated. Other relatively conventional high-pressure locomotives were built in the USA, including the remarkable triple-expansion L F Loree locomotive of 1933. None was successful.

text: Water-tube boiler[edit]

text: In Great Britain, the LNER Class W1 had a marine-type water-tube boiler working at 450 psi (3.10 MPa). It was not a great success and was rebuilt with a conventional fire-tube boiler.


document_title: Grease: The Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture

question_text: who sings born to hand jive from grease

question_tokens: who sings born to hand jive from grease

text: Background[edit]

text: The soundtrack was released in April 14, 1978, two months ahead of the film's release.[1] As with most musicals of the period, the vocal takes recorded for the album release - and in some cases the instrumental background as well - do not lock to picture but were recorded during entirely different soundtrack sessions often months prior or subsequent to the performances used for lip sync in the film.

text: The cover gives credit to, and prominently features, the two stars of the film—John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John—although they only appear on seven of the 24 tracks. Sha Na Na performed many of the 1950s numbers in the film, the recordings of which also appear on the soundtrack. Stockard Channing sings lead on two of the tracks; the two tracks remain her only significant contribution to recorded popular music to date. The title track was recorded by Frankie Valli, who had no other connection with the film.

text: The entirety of the score written by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey for the original musical was included on the soundtrack and/or in the film, with the exception of two songs: "Shakin' at the High School Hop" (originally composed to open Act II of the musical) and "All Choked Up" (the song originally written into the spot where the film used "You're the One that I Want") were both left out of both the film and the soundtrack. Not all of the songs were included in the film; songs cut from the film were performed on the soundtrack by Louis St. Louis and Cindy Bullens or converted to instrumentals. Songs in the musical that were not performed by Rizzo, Danny, Sandy, or Johnny Casino & the Gamblers were given to those characters or to St. Louis and Bullens; these included Sandy's original feature number "It's Raining on Prom Night" (given to Bullens and used as a jukebox background song), Marty's "Freddy, My Love" (given to Bullens), Doody's "Those Magic Changes" (given to Johnny Casino & the Gamblers), Kenickie's "Greased Lightnin'" (given to Danny), and both of the songs originally attributed to a character named Roger that was written out of the film, "Mooning" and "Rock'n'Roll Party Queen" (both given to St. Louis; "Mooning" was replaced in function in the film by the 1930s standard "Blue Moon," performed by the Gamblers).

text: The most successful songs from the soundtrack were written specifically for the film. They included the Billboard number-one hits "Grease", "You're the One That I Want" and the number-three, Academy Award-nominated "Hopelessly Devoted to You".[4] In the UK, the album proved even more successful where "You're the One That I Want" and "Summer Nights" (a song carried over from the original musical) reached No.1 for nine and seven weeks respectively, while "Grease", "Hopelessly Devoted to You" and "Sandy" all became top three hits.[5][6][7][8] The soundtrack album hit the top of the charts in the U.S. during the summer of 1978, replacing The Rolling Stones' Some Girls. In the UK, it remained at the top of the charts for 13 consecutive weeks.[9] As of 2011, "You're the One That I Want" and "Summer Nights" are still among the 20 best-selling singles of all time in the UK (at Nos.6 and 19 respectively).[10] "Greased Lightnin'," another carryover from the stage version, was also released as a single, reaching the top 20 in the UK but narrowly missing the top 40 in the U.S. in part because of the lyrical content not being permitted on U.S. radio.

text: Two of the bass players who recorded on the Grease soundtrack were (at different times) members of Toto. One of these, David Hungate, also performed on Olivia Newton-John's album Totally Hot with Toto guitarist Steve Lukather. Other musicians here have previously worked with Elton John, Steely Dan, Bee Gees and others.

text: The album has sold over 6 million copies in the US in the SoundScan era (beginning 1991) in addition to the 8 million shipped in the years 1978-1984.[11][12]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Professional ratingsReview scoresSourceRatingAllMusic[13]

text: Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic retrospectively rated the soundtrack four-and-a-half stars. He stated that "the originals hold up better than the '50s tunes", but that they "are so giddily enjoyable that everything works". He also said that "the sleek pop production the movie's soundtrack boasts and the cast's enthusiastic performances go a long way in making this Grease the definitive Grease."[13]

text: Track listing[edit]

text: Side one[edit]

text: No.TitleWriter(s)VocalsLength1."Grease"Barry GibbFrankie Valli3:242."Summer Nights"Jim Jacobs and Warren CaseyJohn Travolta and Olivia Newton-John3:353."Hopelessly Devoted to You"John FarrarOlivia Newton-John3:044."You're the One That I Want"John FarrarJohn Travolta and Olivia Newton-John2:485."Sandy"Louis St. Louis and Scott SimonJohn Travolta2:31

text: Side two[edit]

text: No.TitleWriter(s)VocalsLength6."Beauty School Dropout"Jim Jacobs and Warren CaseyFrankie Avalon3:597."Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee"Jim Jacobs and Warren CaseyStockard Channing, Didi Conn, Dinah Manoff and Jamie Donnelly1:408."Greased Lightnin'"Jim Jacobs and Warren CaseyJohn Travolta, Jeff Conaway3:139."It's Raining on Prom Night"Jim Jacobs and Warren CaseyCindy Bullens2:5110."Alone at a Drive-In Movie" (instrumental)Jim Jacobs and Warren Caseyinstrumental2:2411."Blue Moon"Richard Rodgers and Lorenz HartSha-Na-Na2:18

text: Side three[edit]

text: No.TitleWriter(s)VocalsLength12."Rock n' Roll Is Here to Stay"David WhiteSha-Na-Na2:0313."Those Magic Changes"Jim Jacobs and Warren CaseySha-Na-Na2:1814."Hound Dog"Jerry Leiber and Mike StollerSha-Na-Na1:2415."Born to Hand Jive"Jim Jacobs and Warren CaseySha-Na-Na4:3716."Tears on My Pillow"Sylvester Bradford and Al LewisSha-Na-Na2:0217."Mooning"Jim Jacobs and Warren CaseyLouis St. Louis and Cindy Bullens2:15

text: Side four[edit]

text: No.TitleWriter(s)VocalsLength1.UntitledBarry Gibb  18."Freddy, My Love"Jim Jacobs and Warren CaseyCindy Bullens2:4819."Rock n' Roll Party Queen"Jim Jacobs and Warren CaseyLouis St. Louis2:1120."There Are Worse Things I Could Do"Jim Jacobs and Warren CaseyStockard Channing2:2221."Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee (reprise)"Jim Jacobs and Warren CaseyOlivia Newton-John1:4022."We Go Together"Jim Jacobs and Warren CaseyJohn Travolta and Olivia Newton-John3:0023."Love Is a Many Splendored Thing"Sammy Fain and Paul Francis WebsterOrchestral1:2324."Grease" Frankie Valli3:24

text: CD release[edit]

text:
The CD of the soundtrack has been released twice in the US. In April 1991 it was released through Polydor Records as a single disc replicating the sequence of the original 1978 RSO LP. In September 2003 it was released by PolyGram as a 2-CD digitally-remastered "Deluxe Edition" containing additional tracks.
As with the LP and single-disc CD, the songs are not presented in the order replicating their appearances in the movie.

text: Deluxe edition bonus discNo.TitleWriter(s)VocalsLength1."Grease" (Instrumental version)Barry GibbGary Brown, saxophone3:232."Summer Nights" (Sing-a-long version)Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey–3:343."Hopelessly Devoted to You" (Sing-a-long version)John Farrar–3:034."You're the One That I Want" (Sing-a-long version)John Farrar–2:325."Sandy" (Sing-a-long version)Louis St. Louis and Scott Simon–2:306."Greased Lightnin'" (Single version)Jim Jacobs and Warren CaseyJohn Travolta3:207."Rydell Fight Song" (Previously unreleased instrumental)Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey–0:208."Greased Up and Ready to Go" (Previously unreleased instrumental)Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey–4:499."Grease Megamix" ("You're the One That I Want"/"Greased Lightnin'"/"Summer Nights")John FarrarJim Jacobs and Warren CaseyJohn Travolta and Olivia Newton-John4:4910."Grease Dream Mix" ("Grease"/"Sandy"/"Hopelessly Devoted to You")Barry GibbLouis St. Louis and Scott SimonJohn FarrarFrankie Valli, John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John3:5911."Summer Nights" (Martian remix)Jim Jacobs and Warren CaseyJohn Travolta and Olivia Newton-John3:3712."You're the One That I Want" (Martian remix)John FarrarJohn Travolta and Olivia Newton-John3:25

text:
40th anniversary vinyl reissue
In August 2018, Polydor reissued the vinyl album to celebrate its original release in 1978. Released on 180g vinyl and mastered in half speed, it was the first time since its original release that it had used the original RSO record label in the artwork. No information was provided on who or where the record was half speed mastered.

text: Personnel[edit]

text: Vocalists[edit]

text:
Olivia Newton-John – vocals
John Travolta – vocals
Frankie Valli – vocals ("Grease")
Barry Gibb – vocals ("Grease")
Frankie Avalon - vocals ("Beauty School Drop Out")
Background vocals: Curt Becher, Paulette K. Brown, Cindy Bullens, Beau Charles, Carol Chase, Kerry Chater, Loren Farber, John Farrar, Venetta Fields, Gerald Garrett, Jim Gilstrap, Mitch Gordon, Jim Haas, Patty Henderson, Ron Hicklin, Diana Lee, John Lehman, Maxayn Lewis, Melissa MacKay, Myrna Matthews, Marti McCall, Gene Merlino, Gene Morford, Lisa Roberts, Sally Stevens, Zedrick Turnbough, Jackie Ward, M. Ann White, Jerry Whitman

text: Musicians[edit]

text:
Drums: Ollie Brown, Carlos Vega, Cubby O'Brien, Ron Ziegler
Bass: Mike Porcaro, David Hungate, Max Bennett, David Allen Ryan, Wm. J. Bodine, Dean Cortez, Harold Cowart
Guitar: John Farrar, Tim May ("Born to Hand Jive"), Jay Graydon, Lee Ritenour, Dan Sawyer, Bob Rose, Dennis Budimir, Thomas Tedesco, Cliff Morris, Joey Murcia, Peter Frampton ("Grease"), George Terry ("Grease")
Keyboards: Louis St. Louis, Greg Mathieson, Mike Land, Lincoln Majorca, Thomas Garvin, Ben Lanzarone, George Bitzer
Saxophone: Ray Pizzi ("We Go Together" & "Greased Lightnin'"), Ernie Watts ("There Are Worse Things I Could Do" and "Alone at a Drive-In Movie"), Jerome Richardson, John Kelson, Jr.
Trumpet: Albert Aarons, Robert Bryant
Trombone: Lloyd Ulyate
Percussion: Eddie "Bongo" Brown, Larry Bunker, Victor Feldman, Antoine Dearborn
Harp: Dorothy Remsen, Gayle Levant
Concertmaster: James Getzoff
Contractor: Carl Fortina
Copyist: Bob Borenstein

text: Production[edit]

text:
All selections except "Grease" arranged by: John Farrar, Michael Gibson, Louis St. Louis
Strings on "Summer Nights" arranged by Ben Lanzarone
Horns and Strings on "Greased Lightnin'" and "Born to Hand Jive" arranged by Michael Melvoin
Karl Richardson – engineer ("Grease")
Recorded at: Filmways/Wally Heider Recording Studios, HollywoodUnited Western Studios, HollywoodHollywood Sound Recorders, Hollywood
Engineered by: David J. Holman, Jay Lewis, EirBilly Joel Wangberg, Michael Carneval, Karl Richardson ("Grease")
All selections mixed and re-mixed by David J. Holman at Filmways/Wally Heider Recording Studios, Hollywood [Except "Grease"]
Produced by: Louis St. Louis and John Farrar; Barry Gibb, Albhy Galuten and Karl Richardson ("Grease")
Album mastered at A&M Records by Bernie Grundman
Art direction: Glenn Ross
Album design: Tim Bryant/George Corsillo
Photography: Alan Pappe/Lee Gross Assoc., Inc.
Background photos: Ron Slenzak

text: Charts[edit]

text: Weekly charts[edit]

text:
Year

Chart (1978-98)

Position

1978

US Billboard 200

1

UK Albums (Official Charts Company)[15]

1

Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)

1

1991

Australian Albums (ARIA)

1

1998

text: Singles[edit]

text:
Release date

Single title

US

UK

AUS

May 6, 1978

"Grease"

1

3

2

"You're the One That I Want"

1

1

1

August 25, 1978

"Summer Nights"

5

1

6

September 9, 1978

"Hopelessly Devoted to You"

3

2

2

"Sandy"

2[8]

November 17, 1978

"Greased Lightnin'"

47

11[8]

40

text: Sales and certifications[edit]

text:
Region

Certification
Certified units/Sales

Australia (ARIA)[16]

14× Platinum

980,000^

Belgium (BEA)[17]

Gold

25,000*

Canada (Music Canada)[18]

Diamond

1,000,000^

France (SNEP)[19]

Platinum+Gold

2,040,000[20]

Germany (BVMI)[21]

5× Gold

1,250,000^

Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong)[22]

Platinum

20,000*[23]

Japan

1,100,000[24]

New Zealand (RMNZ)[25]

Platinum

15,000^

Norway (IFPI Norway)[26]

200,000[27]

Spain (PROMUSICAE)[28]

3× Platinum

300,000^

Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[29]

Gold

25,000^

United Kingdom (BPI)[30]

8× Platinum

2,580,000[31]

United States (RIAA)[32]

8× Platinum

14,000,000+[12]

*sales figures based on certification alone^shipments figures based on certification alone

text: +Does not include sales from November 7, 1984 through March 1, 1991, the dates between the album's last certification and the date Nielsen SoundScan began tracking album sales.[33]