[1] In February 1978 they introduced the Gold Star Menu for businessmen on InterCity services, which featured poached haddock and grilled salmon maître d'hôtel.
In May 1986, catering on-board trains became the responsibility of InterCity and not Travellers-Fare, which had a wider range of food from the buffet car.
The brand did not have enough penetration to sell on the trains; its on-board full (cooked) breakfasts had a lot of popularity nonetheless (around 500,000 a year in the 1980s) in the dining car (first class).
As a precursor to the privatisation of British Rail, the company was sold to a management buyout team backed by 3i in December 1988.
It was subsequently acquired in November 1992 by Compass Group for £31.7m, who merged it with their airport, retail and leisure businesses to form Select Service Partner (SSP) in 1997.