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Britannic House in Moor Lane

28K views 70 replies 37 participants last post by  andyD148 
#1 ·
This old BP HQ is now know as City Point. I chanced to visit a bar called Amber last week which must occupy space that was the old BP restaurant. Very noisy with a 70's disco floor!
 
#2 · (Edited)
Ah Satannic House! 8th floor, been there a few times, and in the early days used to have to muster in the foyer prior to flying out somewhere or other. Happy Days.
I remenber a lot of concern, about BPTC employees there after the Moorgate Disaster. No BP employee was hurt as I recall.

http://www.amber-bar.co.uk/gallery/groovy.html
 
#30 ·
Ah Satannic House! 8th floor, been there a few times, and in the early days used to have to muster in the foyer prior to flying out somewhere or other. Happy Days.
That brings back memories.
First trip, flying out to join the Light in Dubai, told to report to the foyer of Britannic House at just-after-sparrow-fart on a Sunday morning. Collected the airtickets ( Middle East Airlines!!) from reception with another e/c and the 4/e, then waited for a car to pick us up to take us to Heathrow. With it being a Sunday morning, the boss of the hire car firm had to do the job himself, and as he was the boss he decided to take the best car. He turned up in a long wheelbase black Daimler/Jag normally used by the Malaysian ( if my memory serves me well) embassy - CD plates, little flagstaff on the roof, electric partition, the works! He told us to sit tight and leave the cocktail cabinet alone, and off we went. Great feeling to come tooling into the terminal at Heathrow in that thing, I felt like royalty.

Of course, after that, everything went downhill fast..........(*))
 
#4 · (Edited)
Britannic House, Moor Lane, London EC2Y 9BR
That's the address I remember as well, I expect Britannic House had several post codes and a couple of street addresses as well, I'm trying to remember the telephone number, it was a long time ago though...... 01 920 6750!! What a Memory!! :)
 
#5 ·
Spent a few weeks working in Britannic house in approx 1982 or thereabouts prior to joining the Iolair in the builders yard.
Can remember the restaurant etc in the basement reached via escalators and also the staff bar, cannot remember what floor it was on but definately can remember the drinks prices! Far cheaper than the hotel we were staying in at the time. Needless to say you can guess where many of our early evenings were spent!
On one of the evenings in question when leaving the bar to return to the hotel a "member" of our party, another Iolair crew member managed to miss the revolving door out of the office foyer and walked straight through the glass window at the side of it!
Luckily he was uninjured and a little embarrassed! He was even more embarrassed the following day when he was called into the managers office and warned as to his conduct when on secondment to the office. He was subsequently banned from the bar until we joined the Iolair. He will remain nameless, I will leave it to him if he frequents this forum and wishes to comment!
Happy days.
Dave
 
#7 ·
I think it was about the time I joined the company, around 67/68 I think. Sir Maurice Bridgeman was the No 1 boss of BP at that time. I never met him of course, but he looked like a real old time "City Gent" Bowler, Brolly & Briefcase type. :)
 
#8 ·
Always remember that during visits to Britannic House one was given 'LUNCHEON VOUCHERS' (remember them?) ... to use in the restaurant.

Had to make several weekly visits there in October 74 when I left the Energy in RAK with a slipped disc in my neck!
Weekly trips up to BH from Devon, 1st class rail travel, taxi to meet me at Paddington Station etc ... all for about 40 mins radio therapy massage to my neck! Lunch, then a taxi back to the station and 1st class travel back to Devon.

All organised by a lady called Pam Muller I seem to remember.
 
#27 ·
I can remember the restaurant when there for briefings. Also the lady with the tea trolley who used to come round ; if I remember correctly there was a 'biscuit hierarchy' and the posher biscuits covered in silver paper were only given out by the Tea Lady to middle management ranks and above! Mike
 
#9 ·
Pam Muller, theres a name from the past.
She was for quite a time the ship appointer for Leckies and possibly r/o's.
Had a really "sexy" telephone voice and when she offered you a ship you could hardly "turn it" down.
A really lovely lady and when I met her in the office discovered she was unfortunately confined to a wheelchair.

Dave
 
#16 ·
7-11 Finsbury Circus is River Plate house and that was the BP HQ. Finsbury Circus at the moment is a enormous building site as they sink a shaft down for the construction of Cross Rail.

After working for BP both at sea and ashore, I now find myself working in an office 5 minutes walk from both buildings.
 
#17 ·
I remember going down to 'Panic house' for my first interview. They put me up in the seamans mission. I was a wet ahind the ears 16 year old school boy. Now that was an eye opener, Can anyone remember the name of the street the mission was on? I know it was a short bus ride from BH.

The interview process took all day including a 3 hour medical.
 
#18 ·
I can also remember staying at the seamans mission prior to my interview at Britannic house. Can not remember the address.
From what I remember the morning was taken up with various tests including mechanical aptitude tests and also an interview.
After lunch those that had passed the tests were asked to stay and take a medical followed by an interview where we were offered jobs.
Dave
 
#25 ·
There is also the Flying Angel Mission at 287 Victoria Dock Road, London E16, a former seaman’s mission serving sailors using the Royal Docks. It was in use until 1973 as a hostel and then became the Angel Hostel Merchant Navy College. It is currently being converted into ‘social housing residential units’ by a Housing Association.
 
#31 ·
I never went to Britannic to collect tickets, but my first trip was to join the Grenadier at RAK. Flew MEA to Dubai via Beirut and stayed in the Ambassador Hotel in Dubai (It is still there!). Transferred to RAK and then on Grey Swift to meet the Grenadier. Remember there being a fair swell running and we had to climb the Pilots ladder half way up and then onto the gangway. I was 19, had never been on a plane before and had certainly never climbed a Pilots ladder.
 
#32 ·
Good memories .. never collected tickets from BH but many flights with MEA to Dubai then agents car to the RAK hotel for a few days to acclimatise - few evenings in the casino there - then a trip on 'Grayswift 1' in the middle of the night out to join the ship!
Spent 7 days there once waiting for the 'Cavalier' to limp into the Gulf, the menu became a bit boring after the first couple of days .. but I think we drank them out of fresh orange juice which was free!
 
#33 ·
Yes did the meet in the Britannic House foyer several times and coach transfer to Heathrow for MEA flights. I was later told this all stopped after Maurice Bridgeman tripped over someones bag when the foyer was particularly crowded and demanded to know who all these people were (don't know how true it was)!
 
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