This catering supplier can be traced to Robert Lockhart (1821-1880), a Scottish-born metal broker in Liverpool.  He was also a Presbyterian minster and temperance advocate, who in 1879 launched a chain of cocoa and refreshment rooms in Liverpool, Newcastle, Sunderland and London.  His descendants continued the business as Lockhart, Smith & Co.   After the Second World War, Lockhart’s was restructured and in 1947 took over another chain of catering establishments run by Peter Merchant.

In 1958, Little Chef was launched by Sam Alper, a caravan entrepreneur.  This was a popular  chain of American-style roadside diners.  Lockhart Equipment Ltd became Little Chef’s supplier and in 1960 opened new premises on Oxford Road, Reading (this was adjacent to the first Little Chef restaurant). 

The knife featured here would have probably been made in Sheffield for Lockhart in the 1960s and is typical of the mass market stainless cutlery of that era.  Arthur Price was a supplier to the Group, which in the 1960s was absorbed by the hotel chain Trust Houses (later Trusthouse Forte).  In 2023, Lockhart Catering Equipment continued to trade as a subsidiary of the multinational distribution and services company, Bunzl.