J. Lyons and Co.

In 1918, to increase sales in northern England, Lyons bought the old established tea company Horniman & Sons.

[3] From the 1930s Lyons began to develop a pioneering range of teas, biscuits and cakes that were sold in grocery stores across the world.

[5] The company was a substantial food manufacturer, with factories at Cadby Hall in Hammersmith, and from 1921 at Greenford, producing bread, cakes, pies, tea, coffee and ice cream.

Until the 1940s they had a certain working-class chic, but by the 1950s and 1960s they were quick stops for busy shoppers where one could drink a cup of tea and eat a snack or an inexpensive meal.

The teashops always had a bakery counter at the front, and their signs, Art Nouveau gold lettering on white, were a familiar landmark.

Situated on or near the corners of Coventry Street, Strand and Tottenham Court Road, they and the Maisons Lyons at Marble Arch and in Shaftesbury Avenue were large buildings on four or five floors, the ground floor of which was a food hall with counters for delicatessen, sweets and chocolates, cakes, fruit, flowers and other products.

In addition, they possessed hairdressing salons, telephone booths, theatre booking agencies and at one period a twice-a-day food delivery service.

They featured window displays, and, in the post-war period, the Corner Houses were smarter and grander than the local tea shops.

The artist Kay Lipton designed all the windows for the Corner Houses under the supervision of Norman Joseph, the director post-war.

The cake's panels depicted Princess Elizabeth's coat of arms, the couple's initials and a Naval crown.

Atop the third tier sat a larger Jasper vase, filled with fresh flowers and trailing orange blossom.

[13] The top management of Lyons, with its background in the use of mechanical adding machines, saw the necessity of new electrical computers for organising the distribution of cakes and other highly perishable goods.

Lyons also included the weather forecast to ensure goods carried by their "fresh produce" delivery vans were not wasted in large quantities.

[5] One of the ardent users of LEO computers was the General Post Office (GPO), who bought them in the mid/late 1960s to produce telephone bills.

[18] Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher worked as a chemist for the company prior to becoming a barrister and then a Conservative Party MP.