Wellworths forced to change name

Wellworths, based in Dorchester, Dorset, said it would re-brand as Wellchester after failing to agree terms that would have allowed it to keep the name and expand. The shop has been given two years to change its branding.

Mark Newton-Jones, chief executive of home shopping giant Shop Direct, which is owned by the reclusive Barclay Brothers, said: "Protecting your brand is of paramount importance to every business and no less so to us with our Woolworths brand."

Wellworths was launched by mother-of-two Claire Robertson in March 2009.

The branch was one of 815 that closed after Woolworths went bust in November 2008 with debts of 385 million.

Former Woolworths store manager Robertson has defied the recession by reopening the shop, giving about 20 colleagues their jobs back and seeing the business make a profit in its first year.

Wellworths said Shop Direct "initially supported the opening of the former Woolworths store in Dorchester as Wellworths, but then sought an agreement which would place limits on the growth of the business under the Wellworths name". It continued: "Regretfully, rather than accept those limits, Wellworths have decided to replace the Wellworths name with Wellchester over the course of the next two years."

But Robertson said the agreement now allowed the firm to move ahead with expansion plans. "We're really happy with the way things are going and have been extremely well supported by our customers in the first year-and-a-half," she said.

"Now we are hoping over the next year or so to expand and move things forward."

The 35-year-old from Yeovil is aiming to expand the brand across the south and south-west of England, in towns similar to Dorchester.

Shop Direct's other brands include Great Universal, Littlewoods and online retailer Very.