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Hard Rock is one of the most recognised leisure and entertainment brands in the world. Since the first Hard Rock Cafe opened in London in 1971, Hard Rock has offered customers a unique, rock music-based entertainment experience. Today, the Hard Rock brand spans cafes, hotels, casinos and live music venues in more than 40 countries around the globe. Merchandise is a core component of Hard Rock's business, with more than 5.6 million Hard Rock branded t-shirts and 1.5 million Hard Rock pins sold in 2005.
Hard Rock owns the world's greatest collection of rock music memorabilia, with more than 69,000 individual pieces displayed across more than 130 Hard Rock locations around the world. The collection was started in the early 1970s when rock legends Eric Clapton and Pete Townshend (both regulars at the Hard Rock Cafe in London) donated electric guitars to Hard Rock.
Facts and figures
Established: 1971
Managing director: Hamish Dodds
Cafes: 120+
Hotels: Six
Hotel-casinos: Two
Employees: 6,400
Annual revenue (2005): £250.1m
Annual operating profit (2005): £34.8m
Strategy
Operationally, our focus is on maintaining steady profit growth from company operated cafes and to realise international development opportunities in casinos, hotels and franchised cafes.
Rank is currently reviewing strategic options for Hard Rock to identify - within the context of Rank's broader strategic aims - the best means of realising the brand's significant potential.
The market
With more than 925,000 restaurants, the USA (Hard Rock's most important geographic market) is the world's largest dining-out market. Total sales across the US restaurant sector in 2005 were estimated at $475.8bn, with US citizens spending an average of $974 per year on food prepared away from the home.
UCF Hotel Venture
Rank's 25% interest in UCF Hotel Venture is held as a trade investment. UCF Hotel Venture owns three resort hotels in Orlando, the Hard Rock Hotel, the Portofino Bay Hotel and the Royal Pacific Resort Hotel. All three hotels are on land adjacent to Universal Studios Orlando.
For more information, please visit the Hard Rock website.