Have you heard, 2025 is SilverDoor’s 25th anniversary? You might have been here since the very beginning or you may only just be getting to know us, but there’s a few things you might not know about our journey to 25…
To mark this special occasion, we’ve cast our minds back and put together 25 SilverDoor fun facts to help you get to know us a little better!
1. We were initially called ‘Hot Digs’ before rebranding to ‘SilverDoor’ in 2004.
2. We have 7 global offices, and our international teams speak a combined 25 languages – what a bilingual bunch!
3. Since 2000, we’ve had 3 logo changes so we’re currently using the fourth iteration of our iconic lion emblem. Updating our logo through the years has reflected our growth and better aligned our brand image with our values, mission, and identity.
4. Did you know that we share a birthday with the popular Netflix phenomenon, Tiger King, which was released on the day we turned 20?
5. We have an annual pool tournament which has been running since 2009 in our London office and since 2018 in our Lancaster office! We’ve even had guest appearances from World Champion snooker winners Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis at two of our recent finals nights.
6. We’ve been proudly independent, family owned and privately managed for 25 years.
7. SilverDoor was first founded in Marcus and Angie Angell’s spare room in their flat on Thorny Hedge Road in Chiswick, southwest London – just one mile from our current global headquarters. So, although we have expanded across the globe, our headquarters has stayed close to where we started 25 years ago.
8. We’ve booked over 3 million nights total for our clients since the 1st of January 2020.
9. Our award-winning SilverDoor Academy placement scheme has been running consecutively for 17 years - we’ve welcomed 156 placement students (and counting) every year since June 2008!
10. We’ve provided accommodation for A-list celebrities, footballers, and many cast members of TV programmes, drag shows, and pantomimes.
11. The 11 focus and training rooms in our global headquarters are named after the 11 London Underground lines, and our meeting rooms are named after our office locations.
12. Our CEO, Stuart Winstone, has been with us since 2006, turning his hand to roles in both Account Management and Partner Relationships before becoming Group CEO in 2020. With many years of experience on both the client and partner side of the business, Stuart was the natural choice to become SilverDoor’s first CEO after our Founder stepped into his current Chairman role.
13. Our London team alone gets through more than 750 coffees each month!
14. In our most recent rebrand in 2024, we updated our primary colour to a navy blue inspired by the clock face of Big Ben! The iconic London clock had been black since the 1930s but was restored to its original navy colour in 2019.
15. Our peach brand colour, also introduced in our 2024 rebrand, was heavily influencedby Pantone’s 2024 colour of the year: peach fuzz! This colour addition reflects our growth into sunnier climates like Singapore, Madrid and Dubai, and adds a modern warmth to our branding.
16. We’ve had over 25 different hobby and activity groups throughout the years across our international offices, from SilverScalers (bouldering club) to SilverSwings (golf players), supported by our International Social Committee. Our football team, SilverScorers, has previously won two league titles and one cup!
17. We have properties in over 70% of the world’s countries, accommodating people in over 2,100 cities across the globe.
18. We’ve hosted 34 sensational partner events in 11 impressive worldwide locations like the top of London’s Gherkin, overlooking Singapore’s Marina Bay, and riverside at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.
19. Our longest ever booking lasted over 9 years! This was from the 20th of August 2006 to the 10th of February 2015 - a testament to just how comfortable the apartments in our portfolio are!
20. We’ve had the pleasure of working with some cool and unique properties over the years, including:
- Denmark House – this was a home for the rock-band, the Sex Pistols, in the mid-1970s! The property still has John Lydon’s (AKA Johnny Rotten) drawings over the walls, its rich cultural history making it a Grade II* listed property
- Unlisted Collection’s Town Hall Apartments is another distinctive property with not only a Michelin-starred restaurant on-site, but a former town hall too – that's business and pleasure!
- And lastly, The Crane by Numa – a property in Amsterdam where you stay in an actual crane with amazing sea views overlooking the dock.
21. We’ve been busy attending almost 1,000 familiarisation (FAM) trips in our time! These are hosted with our property partners to keep our client teams in the know about current apartment stock, refurbed properties, and upcoming projects for new buildings.
22. We've won 44 awards over the years from varying prestigious awards bodies, including; The Business Travel Awards’ Account Management Team of the Year, FEM EMMAs in each region, Serviced Apartment Awards, and ITM’s Service Excellence and Game Changer awards.
23. We've made over 70735 bookings since 2020 (and counting!). This is a long way from our first trading year where we made 60 bookings in total, closely followed by 84 bookings in our second year.
24. Did you know, our first ever booking was for an Oscar-winning actor under the pseudonym Craig Blazer for 60 nights?
25. We host a Christmas party every year where colleagues from all over the world get together and celebrate the festive season. The 2004 SilverDoor Christmas party was held on the Orient Express!
Hopefully you know us a bit better now that you’ve had an insight into our road to 25. Want to know more about the 25 years to our silver anniversary? Take more of a trip down memory lane here.
A massive thank you to every client, partner and colleague who has contributed to us reaching this milestone – here’s to the next 25 years of honesty, integrity, and care.
Looking for accommodation? Contact a member of our team who will be there to help.
