Royal Free hits rock Bottomley

Michael Peters Limited has designed a new identity for the Royal Free Hospital, recently taken over by the Bottomley International Corporation and due to reopen next week after extensive structural work.

The Hampstead hospital was privatised ten years ago, but kept its original name until now. “As we will be charging high rates for our facilities the name Royal Free is inappropriate on two counts,” says a spokeswoman.

Packaging expert and retired MPL managing director Simon Lince hoped to convey a “family feeling” with his choice of a new name. “We considered calling it the Bottomley Family Health Centre,” he says, “but decided on HealthBase instead”.