17 Facts About Rank Organisation

Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J Arthur Rank in April 1937.

Rank Organisation name lasted until February 1996, when the name and some of the remaining assets were absorbed into the newly structured Rank Group plc.

Rank Organisation itself became a wholly owned subsidiary of Xerox and was renamed XRO Limited in 1997.

Arthur Rank Organisation, born in Kingston upon Hull, UK, was already a wealthy industrialist through his father's flour milling business, Joseph Rank Organisation Ltd, before making his start in film-making by financing short religious subjects in line with his Methodist beliefs.

Rank Organisation was a Methodist Sunday School Teacher and wished to introduce these beliefs to a wider audience.

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The Rank Organisation was founded in 1937 as a means for Rank to consolidate his film-making interests.

Company of Youth, the Rank Organisation acting school often referred to as "The Charm School", was founded in 1945.

In 1956 Rank Organisation began a partnership with the Haloid Corporation to form Rank Organisation Xerox.

Rank Organisation was a significant shareholder in the consortium which became Southern Television, the first ITV television contract holder for the south of England.

In 1960, Top Rank Organisation was taken over by EMI, and in 1962 they replaced it with Stateside Records.

The production of the "classic" Rank Organisation TV ran in the mid to late 70s, some interim models appeared and the "modern" Rank Organisation TV appeared in the early 1980s.

Top Rank Organisation was one of the early operators of motorway service areas in the UK, opening its first services at Farthing Corner on the M2 in Kent in 1963.

Top Rank Organisation operated a portfolio of 10 service areas until the takeover of Mecca Leisure Group by the Rank Organisation Group in 1991, when they were spun off to ex-Mecca CEO Michael Guthrie under the name Pavilion.

In 1960, John Davis announced that Rank Organisation would concentrate on bigger budgeted, internationally focused productions.

In 1977, Rank Organisation appointed Tony Williams head of production and over two years Rank Organisation made eight films worth £10 million, including Eagle's Wing, The Shout, The Thirty Nine Steps, Riddle of the Sands and Silver Dream Racer.

The Rank Organisation films that had been announced for production – including an adaptation of HMS Ulysses, The Rocking Horse Winner and a film version of To the Manor Born – were cancelled.

Rank Organisation finally severed its remaining connections with the film industry in 2005 when it sold its DVD distribution business and Deluxe technical support unit.