A small London bakery has found itself in the crosshairs of £1.5billion firm Pret A Manger - over its name.
Bread A Manger is a two-man bakery based in Bermondsey, south London.
The firm was set up by Bertrand Kerleo and Fouad Saber in May 2020, and specialises in freshly baked bread and pastries.
But now Bread a Manger is being ordered to change its name after getting a stern letter from Pret, MyLondon reports.
Pret says the name of the small London bakery is too close to its own, and that it sells similar products like coffee.
But Kerleo and Saber told MyLondon that their bakery is nothing like Pret, which has 502 stores worldwide, and more than 300 in London alone.
The pair think that changing the name, branding, logo and website will cost them up to £8,000.
Saber, 42, said: “I want to fight. I didn’t work hard for two years to be forced to change by a big company.
“I can’t understand Pret. We’re an artisan bakery. We are not fast food. In Pret you push a button to make the coffee and we have a barista and proper coffee machine."
Pret A Manger translates along the lines of 'ready to eat' in French - but Saber says as he and Kerleo are French, they should be able to use similar terms.
He said: "We are French. We can use the name we want to as [we are] French. We didn’t see any comparison with Pret. We didn’t think about it. Our customers didn’t say we look like Pret. When we created the company it wasn’t a problem.”
Pret has ordered Bread A Manger to reply to its letter by March 3. It wants the bakery to change its name, logo and hand over the website domain, according to Saber.
He and Kerleo set up the bakery in May 2020, during the first lockdown, after losing their jobs.
At first the pair only did deliveries before securing the Bermondsey shop and opening to customers in June, following the relaxation of lockdown restrictions.
The bakery is run by a three-person team consisting of Kerleo, Saber and another member of staff - a far cry from Pret, which employs over 10,000 people.
Kerleo, who has previously worked in Michelin star restaurants, closed his business in France to move to London and work in bakeries across the capital.
Pret A Manger head of operations, London City Jo Holinska said: “Thousands of Pret Team Members across London have worked hard to earn the trust of customers in the city over the past four decades, and although we appreciate it when other businesses take inspiration from what we do, this name is just too close, especially when many of the products are similar too.
“We’re more than happy to give the business the time it needs to make these changes and to provide any support we can, and we’ll be getting in touch again to see if we can resolve this in a fair and amicable way.”
The Mirror has attempted to reach Bread A Manger for comment.
