In 2003 Purnell was appointed to his first Head Chef role at Jessica's in Edgbaston, Birmingham, which was awarded the first Michelin star given to a Birmingham restaurant in 2005, and was also named English "Restaurant of the Year" by the AA the same year.
Lord Brentford was also Chairman of the Automobile Association and served as a member of the House of Laity in the National Assembly of the Church of England.
In 1910 in a legal test case ('Betts -v- Stevens') involving an AA patrolman and a potentially speeding motorist, the Chief Justice, Lord Alverston, ruled that where a patrolman signals to a speeding driver to slow down and thereby avoid a speed-trap, then that person would have committed the offence of 'obstructing an officer in the course of his duty' under the Prevention of Crimes Amendment Act 1885.
The outside of the hotel is painted blue, and ramshackle with animatronics behind windows, and some plaques and signs on the front, including an AA award saying it is a 3 star hotel.
Association football | association football | Forward (association football) | Goalkeeper (association football) | Defender (association football) | National Basketball Association | American Association for the Advancement of Science | Association of Tennis Professionals | American Library Association | World Boxing Association | National Collegiate Athletic Association | American Association | American Heart Association | automobile | National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics | National Rifle Association | International Development Association | National Association for the Advancement of Colored People | American Bar Association | Philippine Basketball Association | American Medical Association | Saab Automobile | International Air Transport Association | World Hockey Association | Women's Tennis Association | Gaelic Athletic Association | Substitute (association football) | Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta | American Association (19th century) | Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile |
As of 2009, the Crown is an eighteen-bedroom hotel and public house in the Best Western chain, with two AA stars.
A huge campaign saw Mark as the character 'Kev' in Television adverts for AA Car Insurance and was the face in the Television adverts for the Morrisons chain of Supermarkets.