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62-453: Iceland Foods Limited , trading as Iceland , is a British supermarket chain headquartered in Deeside , Wales. It mainly sells frozen foods, including prepared meals and vegetables, alongside non-frozen grocery items such as produce, meat, dairy and dry goods. The company also operates a chain of shops called The Food Warehouse. Iceland Foods began business in 1970, when Malcolm Walker opened

124-585: A 77% stake in the firm came into the ownership of the Icelandic banks Landsbanki and Glitnir . In 2012 the stake was purchased by a consortium including Malcolm Walker and Graham Kirkham . After Walker's return to the company, Iceland Foods reduced the workforce at the Deeside head office by 500, with approximately 300 jobs moved as a result of relocation of a distribution warehouse to Warrington . In January 2009, Iceland Foods announced that it would buy 51 stores in

186-494: A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! from its sixth series in 2006 until its fourteenth series in 2014. In 2018, Iceland announced they would end the use of palm oil in all their own brand products due to concern over environmental impact of palm oil . It was the first major UK supermarket to ban palm oil. In January 2020/2021, Iceland Foods stores appeared in two Channel 5 series called Inside Iceland: Britain’s Budget Supermarket . In November 2018, Iceland Foods submitted

248-420: A DBA must be registered with a local or state government, or both, depending on the jurisdiction. For example, California, Texas and Virginia require a DBA to be registered with each county (or independent city in the case of Virginia) where the owner does business. Maryland and Colorado have DBAs registered with a state agency. Virginia also requires corporations and LLCs to file a copy of their registration with

310-467: A DBA statement, though names including the first and last name of the owner may be accepted. This also reduces the possibility of two local businesses operating under the same name, although some jurisdictions do not provide exclusivity for a name, or may allow more than one party to register the same name. Note, though, that this is not a substitute for filing a trademark application. A DBA filing carries no legal weight in establishing trademark rights. In

372-476: A contract, invoice, or cheque, they must also add the legal name of the business. Numbered companies will very often operate as something other than their legal name, which is unrecognizable to the public. In Chile , a trade name is known as a nombre de fantasía ('fantasy' or 'fiction' name), and the legal name of business is called a razón social (social name). In Ireland , businesses are legally required to register business names where these differ from

434-508: A hostile takeover bid. In 1993, the firm took over the food halls of the Littlewoods department store and also acquired the French Au Gel chain. This last move proved unsuccessful and the stores were dropped within a year. Around 2000, the company attempted ties with British Home Stores . In May 2000, Iceland Foods merged with Booker plc , and Booker's Stuart Rose took the role of CEO of

496-621: A joint venture with Jóhannes Jónsson , co-founder of Bónus and former Iceland owners Baugur Group , the firm opened a store in Kópavogur , Iceland, and subsequently in the capital, Reykjavík . Sandpiper CI has six Iceland Foods franchise supermarkets in Jersey and four in Guernsey . Via franchise agreement with a local food importer and distributor, Iceland Foods operates in Malta . Initially, in 1998, this

558-672: A planned £40m capital raise to strengthen its balance sheet and increase liquidity back to historic levels. In Autumn 2022, AO appointed two new non-executive directors to its board. Former Pets at Home Chief Executive, Peter Pritchard, joined in September and Pret a Manger Global Chief Digital Officer joined in November 2022. At its half year financial results in November 2022, AO upgraded its full year profit expectations following its strategic pivot to focus on cash generation and profitability, which included reducing its cost base by £30m. In

620-461: A planning application for phase one of its ambitious redevelopment. In a five-year deal, the rebranded AO Arena would see live events resuming once the current COVID-19 related restrictions on venues are lifted. In October 2020, AO announced plans to open five 'stores-within-a-store' with Tesco as part of a six-month partnership trial with the supermarket. It ended the trial in July 2022. Following

682-548: A second Dublin store reopened in Finglas . In November 2013, Iceland Foods acquired seven Irish stores which were previously franchised. In February 2023, Iceland's parent company sold its 27 Irish stores to The Project Point Technologies, although the company was expected to continue to use the Iceland brand name under a franchise agreement. In June 2023, Metron Stores, trading as Iceland, was ordered to recall all imported meat products by

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744-434: A simpler name rather than using their formal and often lengthier name. Trade names are also used when a preferred name cannot be registered, often because it may already be registered or is too similar to a name that is already registered. Using one or more fictitious business names does not create additional separate legal entities. The distinction between a registered legal name and a fictitious business name, or trade name,

806-510: A song. The campaign was launched so quickly after the takeover that they had no time to convert all Bejam stores to the "Iceland" fascia. Therefore, the song for the commercial featured the line "We're at Bejam's too..." In 2013, Iceland Foods stores appeared in a BBC documentary called Iceland Foods: Life in The Freezer Cabinet . The firm was the main sponsor of the ITV reality TV show I'm

868-413: A trade name is known as a nombre de fantasía ('fantasy' or 'fiction' name), and the legal name of business is called a razón social (social name). In Brazil , a trade name is known as a nome fantasia ('fantasy' or 'fiction' name), and the legal name of business is called razão social (social name). In some Canadian jurisdictions , such as Ontario , when a businessperson writes a trade name on

930-436: A version of an animated short starring a fictional orangutan named Rang-tan (originally released by Greenpeace ) to Clearcast , but the submission was denied . Iceland Foods originally planned to utilise the short as the television advertisement that Christmas season, as an extension of their earlier palm oil reduction campaign. Trading as In a number of countries, the phrase " trading as " (abbreviated to t/a )

992-548: A version of the Ramones song " Blitzkrieg Bop " in which the words "Hey! Ho! Let's go!" are reinterpreted as "A.O. Let's go!". In May 2020, AO launched a new advertising campaign with an advert showing how Britain's homes were working harder than ever whilst many people were forced to stay home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The advert demonstrated the hundreds of thousands of electricals AO have in stock ready for next day delivery across

1054-553: Is based in Bolton . The company was named as 63rd in The Sunday Times 'Best Companies to Work For' list in 2011, and received the award for Best Customer Service Operation at the 2011 European Call Centre & Customer Service Awards. In 2012, the company was named 5th in The Sunday Times' list, and in 2013 climbed to 4th, retaining this position in 2014. In 2019, AO Tech won the Team of

1116-681: Is called a razón social . DRL Limited AO World is an electrical retailer based in Bolton , England. It operates in the United Kingdom (ao.com), and previously operated in Germany (ao.de) and the Netherlands (ao.nl), specialising in household appliances and electricals. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index . The company was founded under

1178-498: Is important because fictitious business names do not always identify the entity that is legally responsible . Legal agreements (such as contracts ) are normally made using the registered legal name of the business. If a corporation fails to consistently adhere to such important legal formalities like using its registered legal name in contracts, it may be subject to piercing of the corporate veil . In English , trade names are generally treated as proper nouns . In Argentina ,

1240-517: Is now one of the main focuses of the company. When a customer spends £25 or more whilst shopping in-store, they have the option of free next-day home delivery, choosing from available timeslots. Customers can also shop online and receive free next-day home delivery when they spend more than £40. In October 2008, Iceland Foods launched the Bonus Card, a loyalty card and replacement for the original home delivery card. It allows customers to save money onto

1302-492: Is used to designate a trade name. In the United States , the phrase " doing business as " (abbreviated to DBA , dba , d.b.a. , or d/b/a ) is used, among others, such as assumed business name or fictitious business name . In Canada , " operating as " (abbreviated to o/a ) and " trading as " are used, although " doing business as " is also sometimes used. A company typically uses a trade name to conduct business using

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1364-623: The 2013 Retail Week and Drapers ceremony: the Overall Award for Excellence, Best Use of Social Media and Best Pure Play Etailer. They were also awarded fourth place in The Times 100 Best Mid-Size Companies to Work For award and held this position the following year. In February 2014, the company was floated on the London Stock Exchange as AO World. The IPO allowed the company to raise funds for European expansion and AO's first overseas website, AO.de, launched in Germany later that same year. At

1426-811: The Food Safety Authority of Ireland , due to traceability concerns. In the same month, Metron said it was insolvent and unable to pay debts of €36m, and several stores were abruptly closed. The company no longer operates in the Republic of Ireland. There were 11 outlets in the Czech Republic, operated by ICL Czech until they closed in 2022. Iceland Foods also operates stores in Spain and Portugal (countries with substantial British communities), in conjunction with Spanish-based retailer Overseas. The stores stock Iceland products as well as Waitrose items. In July 2012, in

1488-459: The United Kingdom , there is no filing requirement for a "business name", defined as "any name under which someone carries on business" that, for a company or limited liability partnership, "is not its registered name", but there are requirements for disclosure of the owner's true name and some restrictions on the use of certain names. A minority of U.S. states, including Washington , still use

1550-762: The 2014 Retail Week Awards, AO.com won Best Customer Experience, Best use of Content and Best use of Social Media. In 2015, AO.com announced plans for their second overseas website, AO.nl In the same year, a number of AO employees completed a Germany to Bolton bike ride to raise money for a new playground. AO.com also took home the Employer of the Year award at Retail Week 2015. In 2016, to support its European expansion, AO opened its 84,000 square metre headquarters in Bergheim, Germany. AO.com also expanded its distribution facility in Crewe with

1612-706: The Iceland identity. In 1996, Iceland opened its first store in Ireland. Later, there were seven stores, six in Dublin and one in Letterkenny . They all closed in 2005 owing to financial difficulties. In November 2008, Iceland Foods re-entered the Irish market, reopening a store in Ballyfermot in Dublin after agreeing a franchise deal with an Irish cash and carry company, AIM. In November 2009,

1674-433: The Irish ones. He replied, "Well, that's the Irish, isn't it?". In November 2013, the firm began selling appliances online again in partnership with DRL Limited . In May 2014, the firm reintroduced online shopping, which had been dropped in 2007. In January 2018, Iceland Foods announced that it would end the use of plastic for all of its own-brand products by the end of 2023. In 2019, Iceland Foods opened 45 new stores in

1736-620: The Swift brand, the first converted from a former Iceland store in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and the other four in the London area. Soon after introducing an Iceland Local format for petrol forecourt stores, Iceland announced in July 2023 that the Swift-branded stores would be scrapped, with four of the stores closed entirely, their staff transferred to other nearby Iceland stores, and one reformatted to

1798-546: The TV adverts used the tagline and hashtag of "Power Of Frozen" which were fronted and voiced over by Andre. In 2024, a new advertising campaign was launched featuring TV personality Josie Gibson , and the new tagline "That's why we go to Iceland", which is described as a modern update of their original tagline. When the chain bought rival Bejam in 1989, they launched the TV-advertising campaign "Use Our Imagination," which included

1860-418: The U.S., trademark rights are acquired by use in commerce, but there can be substantial benefits to filing a trademark application. Sole proprietors are the most common users of DBAs. Sole proprietors are individual business owners who run their businesses themselves. Since most people in these circumstances use a business name other than their own name, it is often necessary for them to get DBAs. Generally,

1922-547: The UK (including 31 larger stores under The Food Warehouse fascia) but had also closed eight, increasing the number of UK stores to 942. The company has a strategic alliance with The Range , where Iceland's food offer has been introduced to nine of the home and garden retailer's stores. In 2019 it also expanded its warehousing locations, adding five multi-temperature regional distribution centres at Livingston , Warrington, Deeside, Enfield and Swindon. Iceland Foods Ltd has been accused by

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1984-537: The UK from the failed Woolworths Group chain, three days after the final 200 Woolworths stores closed their doors. In April 2009, Iceland Foods announced plans to close its appliance showrooms by September 2009 to concentrate on food retailing. Iceland Foods's sales for the year ended 27 March 2009 were £2.08 billion, a 16% increase on the previous year, with net profits of £113.7 million. An additional Iceland Foods store opened in Dudley town centre on 2 December 2010 in part of

2046-482: The Year – Large Organisations award in the Computing Rising Star Awards. The company launched a new advertising campaign on 3 May 2013 to mark the rebranding of the business from Appliances Online to ao.com. The first advert follows a fictional new employee called ‘Dave’ and his over-enthusiastic inductor on his first day at work. A further advert was aired showing ‘Barry Catchpole’. Its adverts feature

2108-561: The acquisition of the online phone retailer Mobile Phones Direct for £32.5 million as it looks to expand its offering in the mobile phone sector. In January 2019, it was announced that Steve Caunce would step down as CEO, John Roberts would reassume the role. AO's recycling plant in Telford processed its millionth fridge in July 2019. AO Mobile launched in August 2019, offering all UK mobile networks and all handset manufacturers. Roberts described

2170-590: The addition of the Omega building, giving the company 740,000 square feet of warehouse space. AO.com also won the Customer Experience Initiative award at Retail Week 2016. In 2017, the company announced it would sponsor the 11th series of ITV show, Britain's Got Talent . It also announced that it would extend its sponsorship with Lancashire County Cricket Club . It was also reported that company founder, John Roberts would step down as CEO, remaining on

2232-467: The board as Founder and Executive Director. The former COO, Steve Caunce, took over as CEO. In March, the company announced that it had raised £50 million through share placing to support plans for further growth. The retailer also announced that it was to open a recycling plant in Telford, Shropshire. In January 2018, the retailer, reported that it had opened a new office in Manchester city centre, which

2294-581: The card, with the firm putting £1 onto the card each time a customer saves £20, and gives occasional discounts, offers, and entry to competitions—including their main competition, in which each month one Bonus Card holder from every store wins the entire cost of their shop. In 2014, Iceland launched The Food Warehouse , a brand name used for their superstores, which are typically sited in retail parks . As of 2021, there were 140 locations of The Food Warehouse. In April 2021, Iceland launched Swift , their brand of convenience stores . Five stores were opened under

2356-399: The company acquired the distribution business Expert Logistics enabling end-to-end control of their operation. In 2013, Appliances Online rebranded to AO.com , which included a redesign of their logo to its current state. In the same year, the company reached one million likes on Facebook and aired their first television advertisement . AO.com was also presented with three awards at

2418-436: The company had 28 stores. In 1983, the business grew by purchasing the 18 stores of Bristol -based St. Catherine's Freezer Centres, and in 1984 the business went public for the first time. The cash investment was used to purchase 12 stores of South East-based Orchard Frozen Foods (who had gone into administration), AJ & M Freezer Foods, Fulham Freezer Foods and Igloo. The business purchased larger rival Bejam in 1989 after

2480-514: The company's trademark invalidated "on the basis that the term 'Iceland' is exceptionally broad and ambiguous in definition, often rendering the country's firms unable to describe their products as Icelandic". The Iceland Magazine noted that: Iceland Foods was founded in 1970, but only acquired the Europe-wide trademark registration of "Iceland" in 2005. According to the Sagas Iceland, the nation

2542-522: The county or city to be registered with the State Corporation Commission. DBA statements are often used in conjunction with a franchise . The franchisee will have a legal name under which it may sue and be sued, but will conduct business under the franchiser's brand name (which the public would recognize). A typical real-world example can be found in a well-known pricing mistake case, Donovan v. RRL Corp. , 26 Cal. 4th 261 (2001), where

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2604-516: The first store in Leg Street, Oswestry , Shropshire , England, with his business partner Peter Hinchcliffe. Together, they invested £60 for one month's rent at the store. They were still employees of Woolworths at the time, and their employment was terminated once their employer discovered their other roles. Iceland Foods initially specialised in loose frozen food. In 1977, they opened a store in Manchester selling own-labelled packaged food, and by 1978

2666-408: The former Beatties department store, 21 years after their initial departure from the town. In 2013, two labs, one in Ireland and another in Germany, on behalf of the Irish state agency FSAI, identified 0.1% equine DNA in some Iceland Foods products. Malcolm Walker caused controversy when on a BBC Panorama programme (18 February 2013) he was asked why the products had passed British tests but failed

2728-513: The government of Iceland of engaging in abusive behaviour by trademarking the name of the country, and of "harass[ing] Icelandic companies and even the Icelandic tourism board" by pursuing legal action against Icelandic companies which use the name of their country in their trading names. In November 2016, the Icelandic government filed a legal challenge at the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) to have

2790-545: The housebuilders sector, secured over 12,000 building plots. Following a strategic review in July 2022, AO exited the housebuilder market to focus on business to business sectors that better fitted its model. This includes kitchen manufacturers and retailers, such as its partnership with Homebase, which launched in January 2022. In September 2020, AO announced that it would be the new headline sponsor of Manchester Arena . The announcement came as operators ASM Global were submitting

2852-456: The launch as "a game changer for mobile phone customers". In August 2019, AO launched AO Finance in partnership with consumer finance provider Newday. AO Finance offers a market-leading rolling credit facility that gives more customers access to essential products through affordable finance. In October 2019, AO's plastic plant was unveiled as the company announced its ambition to use its recycling capabilities to ultimately make new fridges from

2914-406: The launch of its unique Value Creation Plan in 2020, an all employee long-term incentive that rewards exceptional value creation, AO announced a restructuring of the plan in September 2022, which will see the scheme begin funding at a share price of £1. In June 2022, AO closed its German business, which accounted for around 10% of the group's revenue. The following month, AO successfully completed

2976-402: The law is to protect the public from fraud, by compelling the business owner to first file or register his fictitious business name with the county clerk, and then making a further public record of it by publishing it in a newspaper. Several other states, such as Illinois , require print notices as well. In Uruguay , a trade name is known as a nombre fantasía , and the legal name of business

3038-481: The merged company. He left for the Arcadia Group in November 2000 and was replaced by Bill Grimsey in January 2001. Soon after Grimsey's appointment, Malcolm Walker, Iceland Foods's founder and chairman, was forced to stand down, as it was revealed that he had sold £13.5 million of Iceland Foods shares just five weeks before the company released the first of several profits warnings. Iceland Foods' holding company

3100-417: The name Appliances Online by John Roberts in 2000. Prior to this, during a conversation in a Bolton pub, a close friend bet Roberts £1 that he could not set up his own company and disrupt the white goods market by selling appliances online. As well as selling directly to consumers, the company also sold kitchen appliances on behalf of other retailers such as Next , House of Fraser and B&Q . In 2009

3162-461: The named defendant, RRL Corporation, was a Lexus car dealership doing business as " Lexus of Westminster ", but remaining a separate legal entity from Lexus, a division of Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. . In California , filing a DBA statement also requires that a notice of the fictitious name be published in local newspapers for some set period of time to inform the public of the owner's intent to operate under an assumed name . The intention of

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3224-509: The recycled materials extracted from old ones. Announcing its interim financial results in November 2019, Roberts confirmed that AO would close its operation in the Netherlands to focus on its German business. Roberts explained that the team did not have the bandwidth to fix both markets but remained committed to future international expansion once the German model was proven. In April 2020, AO Business continued to grow and after only six months in

3286-499: The same month, AO announced it was the new headline sponsor of Manchester Thunder , the current and four time Netball Super League champions. AO announced in October 2024 that it would acquire musicMagpie , an online retailer that buys and sells refurbished electronics, for approximately £10 million, as part of expanding the firm's consumer tech businesses. The company now occupies 50,000 sq ft (4,600 m ) offices and

3348-454: The surname(s) of the sole trader or partners, or the legal name of a company. The Companies Registration Office publishes a searchable register of such business names. In Japan , the word yagō ( 屋号 ) is used. In Colonial Nigeria , certain tribes had members that used a variety of trading names to conduct business with the Europeans. Two examples were King Perekule VII of Bonny , who

3410-469: The term trade name to refer to "doing business as" (DBA) names. In most U.S. states now, however, DBAs are officially referred to using other terms. Almost half of the states, including New York and Oregon , use the terms assumed business name or assumed name ; nearly as many, including Pennsylvania , use the term fictitious name . For consumer protection purposes, many U.S. jurisdictions require businesses operating with fictitious names to file

3472-405: Was changed to "Are we doing a deal or are we doing a deal?" and "Feel the deal" in the early 2000s. From the mid-2000s ads featuring Kerry Katona saw a return to a slogan more traditionally associated with Iceland Foods – "So that's why mums go to Iceland!" Katona was dropped as the face of Iceland Foods in 2009 after a tabloid newspaper published pictures allegedly showing her taking cocaine . She

3534-416: Was established in 874. It is an insult to common sense to maintain that the supermarket chain has a stronger claim to the trademark than the country. In April 2019, The EUIPO invalidated the Iceland trademark. Iceland has over 900 stores in the UK. In 2006, a policy of "round sum pricing" was introduced, with many products priced in multiples of 25p. 2006 also saw a surge in home delivery promotion, which

3596-520: Was for the supply only of Iceland Foods-branded products to supermarkets, but in 2015 the operation opened stores in Birkirkara , followed by Mosta , Qawra and Marsascala in 2018. The Malta stores differ from those in the UK: there is a greater emphasis on non-frozen items, and stores feature fresh fruit, vegetables and bakery sections. Iceland Foods historically advertised with the slogan "Mums Love It", which

3658-545: Was known as Captain Pepple in trade matters, and King Jubo Jubogha of Opobo , who bore the pseudonym Captain Jaja . Both Pepple and Jaja would bequeath their trade names to their royal descendants as official surnames upon their deaths. In Singapore , there is no filing requirement for a "trading as" name, but there are requirements for disclosure of the underlying business or company's registered name and unique entity number. In

3720-560: Was renamed the Big Food Group in February 2002, and attempted a refocus on the convenience sector with a bid for Londis . Grimsey remained until the takeover and demerger of the Big Food Group by a consortium led by the Icelandic company Baugur Group in February 2005. Walker subsequently returned to his previous role at Iceland Foods. Iceland Foods's website has a page critical of Grimsey's period in control. After Baugur collapsed in 2009,

3782-435: Was succeeded by Coleen Nolan , Ellie Taylor , Stacey Solomon and Jason Donovan , who has also frequently appeared in the company's Christmas advertisement campaigns. Peter Andre became face of the firm in 2014. The current main tagline is the truncated "That's why mums go to Iceland". Storefronts also bear the tagline "food you can trust", and carrier bags in stores bear the tagline "the frozen food experts". From May 2015,

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3844-473: Was to be home to the business's in-house multimedia, IT and sales teams. In April, the business announced that it had become one of only twenty businesses in the world to have received over 100,000 Trustpilot reviews. In July, the business launched its new brand campaign, Delivering Tomorrow. It was also reported that it had committed to building a second major fridge recycling facility in the south east of England. The company also confirmed that it had completed

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