Keith Prowse

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The Keith Prowse company originated from a partnership in 1830 between two musical instrument makers who opened a shop selling their goods. It later became a theatre ticket agency and music publisher; after a merger with the Peter Maurice company it became

KPM and was acquired by EMI
in 1969.

Keith Prowse remains as a trading name used by two separate companies. Within the

Wimbledon and test cricket
.

History

New Jerusalem Church, Friars Street, London,[1] opened a shop in London in the late 18th century. In 1830 he entered a partnership with another musical instrument manufacturer and music publisher, William Prowse (1801–1886), to form Keith, Prowse & Co.[2]

The company entered the theatre ticketing business after acquiring "Theater Ticket Messengers" a company which used young message boys to go to theatres and either hold seats or collect seat tokens for favoured clients. The first reference to the firm's selling theatre tickets appeared in an article published in 1786 in the

Royal Ascot, opened the World's first flight ticket booking office at Brooklands near Weybridge, Surrey, in 1911[4][5][6] and soon opened another at London Aerodrome. In 1924, they first represented the Wimbledon Championships
.

In 1954,

library music by composers such as Alan Hawkshaw.[11] Today, KPM is owned by Sony Music Publishing
which acquired EMI Music Publishing in 2012.

In 1981, the Keith Prowse agency opened its first office outside the UK in New York City and a further office was established in Dublin in 1982. In the same year, the company was officially appointed by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club through its purchase of Ashton & Mitchell which held royal appointment and rights to Wimbledon tennis.[citation needed]

Administration, internal and external sale

The company saw a period of external administration in 1991 with debts of £7m ($12m),[12] prompting its purchase by Wembley plc (former owner of Wembley Stadium) which in March 2002 sold Keith Prowse Ltd to the company's management for £5.5m ($7.8m/EUR8.9m).[13]

In 2004 the business split:

  • Compass Group Plc acquired the Keith Prowse corporate hospitality business sectors for £20m.
  • The remaining business of selling tickets to theatres, tours and attractions became operated by Keith Prowse Travel

References

  1. ^ "Dictionary of National Biography (1903) p. 712". Archive.org. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  2. ISBN 0-19-514769-3
    .
  3. ^ Coughlan, Sean (20 September 2006). "1880 telephone directory published online". BBC News. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  4. ^ Flight Ticket Office Archived July 4, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "British Civil Aviation in 1911". Rafmuseum.org.uk. Archived from the original on 9 July 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  6. ^ Flight Magazine January 1911
  7. ^ Adeney, Martin (27 April 2006). "Peter Cadbury Obituary". London: Guardian. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  8. ^ Published: 12:03AM BST 18 Apr 2006 (18 April 2006). "Peter Cadbury Obituary (Daily Telegraph)". London: Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 9 June 2009.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ KPM Music – The Story, APM Music. Retrieved 2014-06-28
  10. ^ "EMI: A brief history". BBC News. 24 January 2000. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  11. Allmusic
    .
  12. ^ "Many U.K. Ticket Holders in Limbo". International Herald Tribune. 11 September 1991. Archived from the original on 21 March 2007. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  13. ^ "Wembley plc sells hospitality business". Sportbusiness.com. Retrieved 9 June 2009.

External links

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