J. Arthur Rank but continued to handle all distribution for the Rank organisation until 1955, when it was renamed J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors. In 1939 Rank consolidated his film production interests in both the Pinewood Film Studios and the Denham Film Studios. In 1938 Rank bought the Odeon Cinemas chain. and the Amalgamated Studios in Elstree, although the latter were never used as film studios by Rank. In 1941, it absorbed the Gaumont British, which owned 251 cinemas, and the Lime Grove Studios, (later owned by the BBC) and bought the Paramount Cinemas chain, so that by 1942 the Rank Organisation owned
The Premises Studios restaurant, placed at the front of the complex in Hackney, and is also open to the general public. In the early days of the studios being based at 201–203 Hackney Road, a mixture of studio staff and musicians staffed the café. Broughton said of this: "Musicians understand musicians. Musicians aren’t so good at running the café side of things – in fact, when I let them do it they always made a loss – but it makes complete sense for the studios." The Café business is now owned and operated as family business and services the studios as well as