Sir Rocco Forte qualified as a chartered accountant in 1969 rather than go to business school, reasoning that this would stop him being bamboozled by accountants. He then joined his father's famous hospitality company, comprising over 800 hotels, 1,000 restaurants and nearly 100,000 staff. However, he lost all of it in 1996, when Granada took Forte Plc in a £3.87bn hostile bid.

Rocco Forte was 51 when this defining moment happened. Within three years he had started again with his sister Olga Polizzi, building the opposite of what he had lost: a small collection of individually designed hotels rather than a chain. Among them was Brown's in London, Hotel de Russie in Rome and The Balmoral in Edinburgh – the latter of which he bought back from Granada in 2000. Rocco Forte Hotels might have one name, but it’s a decidedly family affair. Polizzi (who was made CBE in 1990) designs the interiors, while Forte’s three children run F&B, wellness and development.

In December 2023, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund bought 49 per cent for a reported £590m. Revenue reached £318.3m in the year to April 2025. Subsequent expansion has seen the Carlton Hotel open in Milan in November 2025. Doors in Noto, Sardinia and Naples will swing open in 2027.

Today, Rocco Forte chairs a group of 15 luxury hotels across 11 destinations. Nearly 30 years after losing his father's empire, he has built one of his own, and this time the family keeps control.