Multi-facetted british designer. What happened so far:

• 1952
  Terence set up his own furniture-making business, which started in a basement studio in London's Notting Hill.
  
• 1956
  The Conran Design Group was founded, initially as an ancillary business to the furniture-making group. Over the next 35 years, it grew to be one of the largest design consultancies in Europe.
  
• 1964
  Terence's career in retailing began in 1964 when he opened the first Habitat on Fulham Road. Habitat was the first shop to identify its products and its image as part of a wider ethos.
  
• 1973
  With 18 branches of Habitat open in the UK and plans for the first Habitat abroad (in France), Terence opened The Conran Shop at 77 Fulham Road, the site of the original Habitat.
  
• 1974
  Terence Conran's The House Book was published with huge success. The book began as an in-house training manual for Habitat staff, but quickly grew to become a complete guide to planning and designing the home.
  
• 1983
  Habitat/Mothercare embarked on a joint publishing venture with Octopus Books under the name Conran Octopus. The company produces books about interior design, cookery, gardening, crafts and decorative arts, broadly reflecting Terence's design philosophy and style.
  
  Terence Conran was awarded a knighthood in the Queen's New Year's Honours.
  
• 1985
  Terence set up a furniture-making company, Benchmark Woodwork Ltd.
  
• 1986
  Habitat and Mothercare merged with British Home Stores to create a new parent company, Storehouse PLC, of which Terence became Chairman and Chief Executive.
  
• 1989
  As part of the regeneration of Butlers Wharf, on the south bank of the Thames, Terence opened Blue Print Caf� on the first floor of the building that houses the Design Museum.
  
  The Museum was the first in the world to be dedicated to the promotion and examination of design.
  
• Terence Conran retires from Storehouse and Habitat is sold. Upon his retirement from Storehouse, he bought back The Conran Shop.
  
  Since then a number of Conran shops have been opened all over the world from Paris in October 1992, to the most recent in New York in 1999.
  
• From one of the earliest such as Le Pont de la Tour, which opened in 1991, through to the late 1990s opening of Coq d'Argent, the 90s saw the opening of more than a dozen Conran restaurants, not only in England, but also in Paris and Stockholm.
  
• 1993
  Terence formed a new design consultancy, CD Partnership, by the amalgamation of Conran Roche with a team of interior designers.
  
• 1999
  Early December saw the opening of The Terence Conran Shop in New York as part of the Bridgemarket redevelopment under the 59th Street Bridge.
  
• 1999
  CD Partnership changes its name to Conran & Partners
  
• In 2000, Guastavino's and Club Guastavino opened as part of the Group's presence in the renovated Bridgemarket development in Manhattan's Upper East Side.
  
  Great Eastern Hotel opened, a joint venture between Conran and Wyndham International. Conran Restaurants is responsible for the management and running of the four restaurants and three bars within the hotel.
  
• 2001
  Future projects include the opening of new Zinc Bar & Grills across the UK, following the success of the current restaurants in London and Manchester.
  
  Terence Conran Q&A is being published to celebrate his 70th birthday. Questions from celebrities, family and colleagues are answered honestly and openly by Terence.

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