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Writ Cools Fortnum's Big Party

Posted on: Tuesday, 1 November 2005, 15:02 CST

By Teena Lyons, Financial Mail on Sunday, London

Oct. 30--Fortnum & Mason, the Queen's favourite grocer, is facing a legal battle with the design firm behind its major revamp as it gears up for its tricentenary celebrations.

Caulder Moore, which was involved in a £24 million overhaul of the chain's flagship store in London's Piccadilly, is suing Fortnum for more than £300,000 damages.

Fortnum is owned by the Canadian-based Weston family, which also owns Selfridges and Associated British Foods. It has spent months planning its 300th anniversary.

At the centre of the celebrations, in 2007, is a complete makeover of its luxury goods store to include expansion of the famous food hall and closure of the antiques department.

Fortnum, which recently appointed former Peter Jones boss Beverley Aspinall as managing director, wants a more contemporary image to boost flagging sales after four successive years without growth.

Now, as work on the refit is about to begin, it has emerged that the historic chain is facing a writ from Caulder Moore. The design firm claims Fortnum has used its ideas and breached its copyright.

Caulder Moore, which has devised store concepts and fittings for Harrods, Marks & Spencer and The White Company, was commissioned in April to undertake a feasibility study into the rebranding.

The brief for the work, due to be completed by October 2007, was to modernise the store and broaden its appeal.

Caulder Moore's initial study was used as the basis for the individual pitches made by a dozen design teams eager to take on the prestigious task. The design company, based in Kew, west London, did compete in the second stage of the process, but lost out to another firm, the Williams Murray Hamm agency.

Aspinall said: "I find it extraordinary that Caulder Moore should have taken this step after having been paid substantial fees by Fortnum & Mason for preparations of the feasibility study. That study has now been entirely superseded by the project designs produced by the new design teams.

"It is not and never has been our intention to use anything but our own concepts in what will be a magnificent new flagship store."

Caulder Moore, which is demanding royalties and damages, would not comment.

Fortnum was founded in 1707 by royal footman and part-time candle salesman William Fortnum and his landlord, Hugh Mason.

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Copyright (c) 2005, Financial Mail on Sunday, London

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SLF, ASBFY, ABF,

Source: Daily Mail

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