 In 1987 he led the successful £163m management buyout of the loss-making contract services and catering division of Compass Group, known as Compass Caterers.He joined Granada as CEO in 1991, and soon ousted Granada's chairman, David Plowright in 1992, which led John Cleese to call Robinson "an upstart caterer ".Robinson steered the company through various mergers, and hostile takeovers including London Weekend Television (1993) and Forte Group (1996).