Did Samworth Brothers (food company who own Ginsters), pay £1 million
for the use of the name 'Mrs Beeton' in perpetuity in 1995?

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 31 May 2005 07:20 PDT

Samworth did indeed purchase license to the use of the Mrs Beeton
name.  However, the only detail I could find in the business press is
the date of the deal -- nothing about the amount paid, or the actual
terms of the license.

I did come across two brief press mentions of the deal, however. 
Would citations and excerpts from those two articles meet your needs,
even without the specific details in question?

Let me know.

pafalafa-ga

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Clarification of Question by kh22-ga on 31 May 2005 08:12 PDT

I think the information that you are able to give me will be fine.

kh22-ga,


Thanks for getting back to me so promptly.  

Here are excerpts from the two articles I mentioned, both of which
mention the Mrs Beeton deal, but differ slightly on dates.  The first
cites a date of the "beginning" of 1996, while the second puts it at
December 1995.

It's not unusual for there to be several relevant dates, e.g., an
announcement of intentions, followed by the actual closing of the
deal.  Perhaps that's what occured in this case.

Hope this fully meets your needs, but if you find you'd like
additional information on anything, just let me know by posting a
Request for Clarification, and I'll be happy to look into it further.

All the best,

pafalafa-ga


==========

 

The Grocer
September 21, 1996
Pie firm puts premium on Victorian values


...Pork pie specialist Samworth Brothers, owner of the £ 50m Ginsters
brand, is moving into premium pies by bringing the Mrs Beeton brand to
the chilled cabinet...The group bought the licence for the Victorian
home economist's name at the beginning of this year and has now set up
a subsidiary, Mrs Beeton's Foods, to market the label in the UK. It
expects around £ 3m in sales from the brand in its first year...



==========================


LAUNCH - MRS BEETON AT A PREMIUM. 
SuperMarketing
20 September 1996

Samworth Brothers is relaunching Mrs Beeton's Foods as a premium
priced traditional chilled meat pie and pudding range on to
supermarket shelves within the next fortnight...The products could be
the first in a range of new lines under the brand name, which is
likely to include preserves and drinks such as a traditional lemonade.

The Mrs Beeton's Foods licence was bought by Samworth Brothers last
December and...the firm was keen to refocus the range from its
previous range of ambient cakes...The three products will be a Roast
Chicken and Mushroom Pie, Aberdeen Angus Steak Pie and an Aberdeen
Angus Steak and Kidney Pudding.






Again, let me know if there's anything else I can do for you.

paf


search strategy -- searched Google and several news databases for [
samworth beeton ]