One of Manchester’s best-loved pasta spots has changed its name following a legal trademarking dispute with a Scottish restaurant.
Popular Manchester pasta kitchen Sugo has been embroiled in a legal challenge with a restaurant of the same name in Glasgow, leading it to change its name.
Whilst Sugo in Glasgow only opened at the end of 2019, it has still managed to secure the trademark for the name – leaving Manchester bosses with no choice but to rebrand despite their restaurant group having been established for much longer.
Sharing the news on Instagram this morning, the Manchester restaurants account posted that from hereon out it would be known not as Sugo, but as Sud – which translates to ‘South’ in Italian:
Owners wrote: “Same us, same mission, same pasta kitchen. From today our new name will be Sud Pasta.
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“We’re aware that we can’t stop any speculation, however, all we’ll say is that our home is in the kitchen, not the boardroom.
“We love our new name. We love what it stands for. We love our ‘A Southern Italian Pasta Kitchen’
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“By the way, Sud means ‘south’ in Italian. More importantly, we’ve got a brand new menu format starting in March. The Sud pasta Spring menu.
“Love, light and appreciation. Michael and Alex.”
First opened in 2015 in Altrincham, Sugo Pasta Kitchen has long been a favourite amongst the city’s pasta lovers. In fact, the furore for its strozzapreti and orecchiette is so intense that its fans are even known, affectionately, by owners as their ‘Sugo Army’.
However, it appears that even its ranks of pasta-munching soldiers have been unable to save the Southern Italian pasta kitchen from a rebrand eight years on from its first opening.
Commenting on the post, one follower wrote: “What’s the betting that we’ll still be calling it Sugo for years to come. Manchester institutions tend to retain their name… I still refer to Manchester Central as GMEX!”
Another person said: “As long as House Sud (sugo) tastes the same you could be called Nasty Pasta for all I care. Love the new name. #forzasud“
A third added: “Is it going to now be called “House Sud” like panicking here.”
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It seems that the name conflict first came to light in 2019, after customers at the Glasgow restaurant mistakenly purchased vouchers for Sugo in Manchester, thinking that the two were connected.
In a Facebook post shared on 10 December 2019, Sugo shared a post in relation to this addressing their ‘brothers and sisters in Glasgow’:
The restaurant wrote at the time: “Beautiful people, epic city. Way too many of you peeps are landing on our website, looking at our menu, buying our vouchers and mistaking us for Sugo Pasta – unfortunately for you folk it isn’t us!
“We launched in Manchester back in 2015 so if you’re ever south of the border in our city come and check us out! The crazy thing here is your boys (the guys behind Paesano Pizza) are trying to sue us for using our own name, crazy world we live in eh!”
In a now-deleted post entitled ‘We’ve got beef’, the Glasgow restaurant responded – claiming that they had offered a ‘compromise’ to Manchester Sugo, offering them the chance to keep the name if they agreed to not open any further locations.
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The post also claimed that Manchester Sugo had opened their Ancoats branch after the agreement was made, a claim that is disputed by the Manchester restauranteurs.
The Manchester restaurant owners were also accused of failing to respond to legal correspondence, to which owners responded by revealing that they had been sent a letter asking them to remove their signage, hand over their website, and withdraw their own trademark application amongst other things.
By contrast, the most recent post from the Manchester restaurant seems very tame by comparison, although the comment from owners that ‘our home is in the kitchen, not the boardroom’ seems to speak volumes.
The Manc has approached Sud, formerly Sugo Pasta Kitchen, owner Mike De Martis for comment.
Feature image – Google Maps
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Two Trafford towns are set to see dozens of new EV charging points installed imminently
Danny Jones
Two big towns on the border of Greater Manchester and Cheshire are set to see a fresh batch of electric vehicle (EV) charging points installed throughout their streets by Trafford Council very soon.
Local authorities have teamed up with engineering and infrastructure company Amey to roll out a series of new EV charging stations across Trafford, starting with Altrincham and Hale.
Dating all the way back to 2020, the collaboration with Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), the brand was tasked with helping improve sustainable travel across the area as the government body’s electric vehicle charging suppliers.
Steady improvements have been made across the 10 boroughs, but this particular update marks one of the biggest network upgrades that the likes of Alty and Hale have seen for some time.
Good news – we are thrilled to announce the installation of our first public EV charge points in collaboration with @TraffordCouncil.
Issuing a statement on Wednesday, 17 September, the firm – which specialises in managing, designing and maintaining complex facilities and transport infrastructure across the country – announced that they will “start the installation of EV charging points in Trafford in the coming weeks.”
It is expected that “up to 100 new public charges” will be integrated throughout the respective town centres and residential streets as the suburbs continues to push towards its sustainability goals.
As per Altrincham Today, Amey account director Anna Gornall said: “We’re excited to launch our first EV charge points in Trafford, working in partnership with Trafford Council (TC) to make electric vehicle charging more accessible to local communities.
“As the UK’s leading provider of energy transition and decarbonisation solutions, we’re well placed to use our existing expertise and resources to support TC in delivering a holistic public EV charging network for local communities.
“We’re helping residents make the switch, so everyone can plug in and power a greener Trafford.”
The country at large has various carbon-free initiatives, including the aspiration of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050; the electoral ward of Trafford itself continues to thrive in this field, having recently won environmental accolades, including 12 ‘Green Flag Awards’ this past July.
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Peter Anderson, Managing Director of Transport Infrastructure at Amey, commented: “This is a pivotal moment in Amey’s energy transition strategy. By leveraging our extensive experience in whole lifecycle asset management, strong partnerships, and innovative solutions, we can deliver value for both our clients and members of the public who will use Amey’s electric vehicle charge points.
“Working with Trafford Council, we are making electric vehicle charging more accessible to local communities and helping residents make the switch to EVs.
“Amey is well-positioned to support emerging opportunities within this landscape, and we are delighted to be working with Trafford and other local authorities to provide the public EV infrastructure needed to achieve the government’s transition to net zero.”
As for Trafford Council, Corporate Director of Place, Richard Roe, went on to add: “We are delighted to be working with Amey on this project to bring more and better charging options to the people of Trafford.
“This is an extension to the current EV charging options in the borough and is great news for committed EV owners and those who are thinking about going electric.”
Featured Images — Publicity pictures (via Amey Ltd)
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Further disruption expected as more bus strikes announced across Greater Manchester
Emily Sergeant
Further disruption is expected as even more bus strikes have been announced across Greater Manchester this autumn.
It comes after the strikes set to place this month from 19 to 22 September were announced a couple of weeks back, and now a second round will take place towards the end of this month and going into early October.
In case this is the first you’re hearing of the upcoming industrial action, 2,000 workers who are employed by Stagecoach, Metroline Manchester, and First Bus Rochdale – all of which are firms among those that make up the bus part of the Bee Network – are due to walk out in a co-ordinated strike amid an ongoing pay dispute.
Unite the Union says all the firms are ‘highly profitable’ and it’s therefore ‘disappointing’ that workers are being denied a fair wage.
More strikes have been announced on the Bee Network this month / Credit: TfGM
At Stagecoach, around 1,000 drivers based across the Oldham, Stockport, and Middleton depots have rejected a pay offer of 3.5%, and 1,000 Metroline Manchester members will also do the same after turning down an ‘unsatisfactory’ below-inflation pay offer.
Workers at both Metroline and Stagecoach believe the offer doesn’t address years of low pay they’ve recieved, especially given the ongoing cost of living crisis.
Then, over at First Bus Rochdale, 110 members have rejected this year’s pay offer of 6%, as they feel this does not go far enough to address the fact they’ve had years of being paid less than their counterparts at other companies, and are still the lowest paid in the region.
Stagecoach, Metroline, and First Bus Rochdale, part of First Group PLC, are all firms which have seen a rise in profits in recent years.
2,000 drivers are set to stage strike action over two different periods / Credit: TfGM
The second round of strikes will now take place from from 30 September to 2 October.
Speaking ahead of both sets of upcoming strikes, Unite General Secretary, Sharon Graham, said: “These companies are very profitable but are putting greed over their hardworking members of staff.
“Further strike action will be extremely disruptive, however this is a dispute entirely of the bus companies’ making and they could solve it easily by coming back with a better deal.
“Our members involved in the dispute have Unite’s complete support.”
Unite Regional Officer, Colin Hayden, added: “The strikes this week as well as the further action we have called will cause travel chaos in Greater Manchester. However, it is entirely the fault of the employers involved, who have failed to address the issue of low pay and reward their staff accordingly.
Georgina Pellant -
13th February 2023 
