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This is the frank and honest story of the Thornton family and their
confectionery business. It's the story of the building of one of
Britain's premier brands by a family that was frequently at war:
the battles of the generations and of sibling rivalry. A family
that was at the same time highly creative in a chaotic way and a
younger generation that was determined to expand and exploit the
opportunity despite the stringent and restrictive control held by
the older generation, Norman and Stanley Thornton until their
deaths. Nothing is held back, the good times, the bad times, the
successes, the failures, the conflicts, the battles, the love
affairs and the moments of high elation and deep depression. Peter
Thornton, Ex-Chairman of the family business tells his story with
startling frankness, starting in 1956, through to his dismissal
from the company in 1987 after a career which had been very
successful. It was a dismissal which seemed to be entirely a result
of family politics and jealousies and nothing to do with
performance - a dismissal resulting from a boardroom coup that tore
the heart out of the Thornton family. Thorntons began in Sheffield
in 1911. This book describes the family at that time and after:
their battle for survival through problems of illness and the death
of the founder, period descriptions of old Sheffield, the struggles
of the family and the business to survive and grow through two
World Wars, recession, depression and the General Strike. Thorntons
became the premiere confectionery brand in England. But along the
way were family betrayals, suicides and extra-marital affairs.
After the boardroom coup of 1987, Peter Thornton had to rebuild his
life. He had been groomed from birth to run the family business,
and had to start all over again. But he never lost his love for and
interest in the family business, which became a public company, and
changed beyond recognition. Peter explains where things went wrong
and where he thinks the future of the company now lies. Themes of
destructive and dysfunctional personal relationships, conflict and
emotional difficulties are candidly covered. And there is a strong
feeling of nostalgia for old times and the traditions of the old
business. The moral is that success and money can come at a
horrible price - even to one of Britain's best-known brands.
Alan Davies returns as the lateral thinking sleuth, this time
investigating the disappearance of a young woman after spending the
night in 'The Nightmare Room' of an old Gothic house. For 70 years,
'Metropolis' has guarded the secret of how a Harvard geneticist,
Eli Mencken (Patrick Poletti), vanished after spending the night in
an attic room where the malevolent spirit of a madman is said to
dwell. Now, when magician Lance Gessler (Nicholas Boulton)'s
beautiful young assistant Elodie (Jenna Harrison) goes missing
after sheltering there from a storm, Jonathan Creek, alongside the
ever sceptical Joey Ross (Sheridan Smith), sets out to solve the
mystery.
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