M&S to buy more food from EU to counter obscene Brexit disruption
Border issues in Northern Ireland are affecting pre-prepared meals the retailer makes in England
23 May 2021 • 9:00am
Marks & Spencer is poised to start buying more food from countries within the European Union as it battles border disruption in Northern Ireland.
The firm plans to source more goods from companies on the Continent as well as from Ireland and Northern Ireland, after struggling to get English goods across the Irish Sea due to Brexit disruption.
Insiders said the company has been caught in the eye of the storm and that it is now seeking to reshape some of its supply chain.
Efforts to transform the company don’t end there. It has renewed its attempts to compete better online with the likes of Next by putting its digital operations under the control of a new unit, MS2.
The unit has the autonomy and clout within the organisation to act more like a “pure play” online retailer and less as an adjunct to the store estate – but is still able to use the shops as logistical support for the dispatch of online orders, supplementing its dedicated distribution centres, for click and collect and for the receipt of returns.
In all this M&S is following the path successfully followed by Next, its great rival in clothing.
M&S wants Aldi caterpillar cake withdrawn
16-04-2021
21-09-2018
Marks & Spencer (M&S) is suing German supermarket chain Aldi at the UK High Court over a cake which it says infringes its ‘Colin the Caterpillar’ brand.
According to M&S, Aldi’s ‘Cuthbert the Caterpillar’ cake is likely to confuse consumers and “rides on the coat-tails” of the UK retailer’s brand.
“M&S is concerned that this could be a classic case of mistaken identity as far as shoppers are concerned and they have decided to take action to clear things up,” said Mark Caddle, partner at European IP firm Withers & Rogers.
Colin versus Cuthbert as M&S declares caterpillar cake war on Aldi
Retailer argues that the German supermarket s Cuthbert the Caterpillar product infringes its trademark
Colin the Caterpillar (left) and its Aldi rival Cuthbert
Marks & Spencer is taking Aldi to court in a bid to protect its Colin the Caterpillar cake.
The retailer has accused the discounter chain of riding on its reputational coat-tails after Aldi began selling its own Cuthbert the Caterpillar cake, which looks very similar.
M&S claims it infringes its trademark and could lead shoppers to falsely believe the two products are sourced to the same standards.