Mondial House - Better Times
The British Telecom days of Mondial House
Mondial House was an ambitious building project both in terms of size and complexity.

In the early days of British Telecom, Mondial House was a flagship building containing the biggest international switching centres in Europe.

Photo: Peter S White

| EXIT | The Name |
The Name

The name "Mondial House" was chosen following a 'competition' in (1976) for suggestions among External Telecommunications Executive (ETE) HQ staff.

Mondial is a French word meaning 'world-wide' and is correctly pronounced as 'Mondy-all'.  This was a very apt name for an international telephone exchange which made world-wide communication possible. A few people used the 'proper sounding' name from the outset, but universal Anglicisation soon prevailed...

"Apparently, there followed correspondence in the (then Post Office) staff newspaper 'Courier' as to alternative names. One wag said that as dials were being phased out surely it should be called 'Monkey House'!"

Mondial House Restaurant
The restaurant was situated on the seventh floor. Here at the opening we see L to R:

Ron Calfe, Peter Clarke, Fern Mason and Pat Hastings.

Photo: John Burt

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