Marks And Spencer Share Discussion Threads

[debsdowner] 20/4/2021 11:37

TESCO is fined a whacking £7.54 million for selling out of date food in a small number of stoes plus £95,000 in costs!!!



This is a significant fine against TESCO which I have never seen the like, no doubt its because TESCO is a conglomarate and that is the reason for the significant fine and a warning over food hygene which could cause serious health risks.

[debsdowner] 20/4/2021 11:08

ALDI throws the gauntlet in the High Court action launched by MARKS over the Caterpillar cakes. ALDI had not been selling its Cuthbert cake recently but its back on the shelf with all money going to charity.



ALDI are appearing to say bring it on to MARKS not concerned at the High Court action otherwise they wouldnt be sellign the cake.

MARKS want their cake and eat it forgive the pun!

This will be an interesting court case over intelectual property rights and one which is worth watching.

I have to say I wouldnt want to call this one either way, ALDI have been copying very close to leading brands now for years and getting away with it and they wont want to lose the action otherwise it could prevent copying in future.

I say copying because that is what it look like to me and many other people but its a fine line in what they are doing.

It happens in the fashion industry as well the fashion designers create and immage and tghen the minut its on the cat-walk the copying goes on and its difficult to prevent as its difficult to prevent copying many othe the produucts we buy today China is one of the worst in being able to copy an item in less than a day even in some high technology.

[philanderer] 20/4/2021 11:00

CREDIT SUISSE RAISES MARKS & SPENCER TARGET TO 185 (125) PENCE - 'OUTPERFORM'

[philanderer] 20/4/2021 00:30

MARKET REPORT: Post-lockdown shopping frenzy lifts major retailers and helps to keep Footsie above 7000

[pdosullivan] 19/4/2021 19:07

This looks like a very sensible move by the Group, an investment that will ultimately lead to the fulfilment of up to 35,000 orders a day from a highly automated distribution centre https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/media/press-releases/5ff7017fc6fe1bc26cb21d12/growing-m-and-scom-m-and-s-to-permanently-increase-online-capacity-by-building-a-new-automated-online-warehouse-within-its-bradford-distribution-centre

[philanderer] 19/4/2021 14:12

Crowds surge back to London’s West End as lockdown curbs are lifted

[philanderer] 19/4/2021 11:55

COVID-19: Sunny weather and lockdown easing give much-needed boost to retailers

[debsdowner] 19/4/2021 11:51

HSBCC to reduce office space by 40%

[debsdowner] 18/4/2021 19:04

More on ISSA bross and Caffee Nero

[debsdowner] 18/4/2021 15:22

Competition authority to publish its verdict on ASDA takeover this week and ISSA brothers lookm to be a contender for Cafee Nero as well



These are interesting developments by the ISSA bross as they can use all their combined sites to promote the other businesses.

Some of the other large supermarkets may do the same thing as when the lockdown ends they may lose some of the online orders and this could curb some of their profits goimng forward.

The supermarkets margins still quite low in relative terms when you look at a billion pound profits which MARKS made a long time ago and have shrunk to less than half over the years.

With increasing unemployment supermarkets will have to come up with more initatives to draw in customers otherwise they will lose out.

[debsdowner] 18/4/2021 15:12

The amount of debt the ISSA brothers are amounting is concerning, but they are doing so in a low interest rate envireoment.

[debsdowner] 18/4/2021 15:00

The ISSA brothers who have bough ASDA now bought LEON fast food and reteraunt chain



FT view

[debsdowner] 16/4/2021 13:41

OCADI invests in driverless vehicles to cut down costs in its operations. This will take time and possibly a few years but we will have dirverless vehicles imo in less than 10 years possibly even in 3 to 5 years where they will be stepping up by then



The company are starting trials now so we may even see this technology in a limited basis in less than two years, its surprising how quick these things start to develop and or when regulations allow it to be rolled out.

The technology is already quite refined but the need is for it to be safe.

[debsdowner] 16/4/2021 12:01

Hamerson has had to slash most of its rents by about 30% which will help some retailers.

However INTU who owned many shopping centres had to go into administration and Hamerson lost a considerable amount of money.

[netcurtains] 15/4/2021 19:54

This is the BIG ONE.....

Biggest food story of the decade:

[debsdowner] 15/4/2021 18:47

Cecil, Wiggles, Curly and Clyde will all be watching from the sidelines.

[debsdowner] 15/4/2021 18:46

BBC

Marks & Spencer has begun legal action against Aldi, arguing the supermarket's Cuthbert the Caterpillar cake infringes its Colin the Caterpillar trademark.

M&S claims that their similarity leads consumers to believe they are of the same standard and "rides on the coat-tails" of M&S's reputation.

It lodged an intellectual property claim with the High Court this week.

M&S wants Aldi to remove the product from sale and agree not to sell anything similar in the future.

The retailer has three trademarks relating to Colin, which it believes means Colin has acquired and retains an enhanced distinctive character and reputation.

The food and drinks with trademarked shapes
The battle to stop people from copying shapes
The product was launched around 30 years ago. Colin's appearance has been substantially unchanged since around 2004, except for adaptations for events such as Halloween and Christmas, and related products such as Connie the Caterpillar.

A spokesman said: "Because we know the M&S brand is special to our customers and they expect only the very best from us, love and care goes into every M&S product on our shelves.

"So we want to protect Colin, Connie and our reputation for freshness, quality, innovation and value."

Colin is central to M&S's partnership with cancer charity Macmillan, and the retailer has created a Colin product for the annual World's Biggest Coffee Morning fundraising event.

The cake is a sponge with milk chocolate and buttercream, topped with chocolate sweets and a smiling white chocolate face.

M&S was the first retailer to sell a caterpillar cake, but many supermarkets have since created their own similar products.

Other cakes include Waitrose's Cecil, Sainsbury's Wiggles, Tesco's Curly, and Asda's Clyde the Caterpillar.

[debsdowner] 15/4/2021 18:38

Caterpillars in court as M&S sues Aldi over Colin cake ‘lookalikeR17;
High street chain lodges intellectual property claim and demands grocer stop selling discount sponge roll

It is being billed as the ultimate food fight and could get nasty: Colin the Caterpillar is going to war with lookalike Cuthbert.

On Thursday, Marks & Spencer said it had begun legal action against Aldi to “protect”; Colin from the discount grocer’s rival chocolate sponge roll Cuthbert which, for a smaller fee, has been masquerading as Colin at birthday parties and on picnics.

With their hard chocolate shells decorated with sweeties and white chocolate grinning faces, it is difficult to tell Colin and Cuthbert apart – until you have had a bite, anyway.

M&S argues the similarities mean consumers think they are of the same standard, enabling its cheaper rival – Cuthbert costs £5 while Colin is £7 – to “ride on the coat-tails” of the company’s reputation for high-quality food.

Colin the Caterpillar made his debut in 1990 and, with more than 15m cake sales under his belt has, like Rihanna, become known to fans by just his first name. He is also known for his philanthropy, thanks to a tie-up with the cancer charity Macmillan.

His fame has led to a number of brand extensions, including his girlfriend (cake) Connie and most recently his branded cake jars, which caused a storm on social media. One wag suggested the pots represented the “rather gross metamorphosis stage between Colin the Caterpillar and Colin the Beautiful Butterfly”.


Colin the Caterpillar at 30: how a supermarket cake stole the nation's heart
Read more
M&S, which has lodged an intellectual property claim with the high court this week, has three trademarks relating to its caterpillar cake, including the words “Colin the Caterpillar” and the packaging. It wants Aldi to remove Cuthbert from its shelves and agree not to sell anything similar in the future.

There have been a number of similar disputes in recent years, including a 2018 row when Hotel Chocolat accused Waitrose of plagiarism.

It is not the first time copycat claims have been levelled at Aldi. In 2019, the chain delisted its Moo gourmet yoghurt after the cofounder of Collective, Amelia Harvey, claimed the products looked too similar to the brand’s own. It had a similar row with the sausage brand Heck.

In a statement, M&S said: “Love and care goes into every product on our shelves. So we want to protect Colin, Connie and our reputation for freshness, quality, innovation and value.” Aldi declined to comment.

Mark Caddle, a partner at the intellectual property firm, Withers & Rogers, described the case as the “battle of the caterpillars”.

“Colin the Caterpillar has been very popular in the UK market, which could aid M&S’s case,” Caddle said.

“The high court’s decision will rest on whether it thinks Aldi is seeking to benefit commercially by bringing a confusingly similar product to market.”

[debsdowner] 15/4/2021 18:35

Handbags at dawn as Colin the Caterpillar MARKS sponge cake takes his opponent ALDI's Cuthbert to the High Court.



TESCO and Waitrose also have their own versions so if MARKS will the spnge war the other offerings could see the same fate.

[philanderer] 15/4/2021 14:06

M&S in legal claim against Aldi over Colin the Caterpillar trademark

[debsdowner] 15/4/2021 12:34

MARKS takes ALDI to court over intelectual property rights comparing Colin the Catterpillar to ALDI's Cuthbert The Catterpillar.

MARKS say their Colin is superior to ALDI'a Cuthbert and its an interesting High Court fight between both logs and intelectual rights.

ALDI may put up a fieerce defense if they lose it would open up the doors to more brands complaining their brands have been copied.

There could be a "Jaffa" cake war for ALDI as some brands are packaged to look similar or confuse the customer.



This will be really interesting I cannot see ALDI giving in without a fight.

The question is which will tast better and or have the best ingrediants.

I susoect MARKS will taste better but that doesnt mean they will win the fights as its also over similarities of the products.

ALDI are ever so clever as copying brands and they have been doing it for years.

[debsdowner] 14/4/2021 14:11

Speculation about Sainsburys going private

[jsforum] 13/4/2021 15:59

Food should improve especially Simply Food city centre outlets and motorway services. Clothing & Home are turning the corner but there is a lot to do