TRIVIA: Examples of two or more unrelated companies (past or present) with similar or identical names

[AY1975]

Can anyone think of any examples of two or more companies (past or present) that have (or had) similar or identical names but have no relation to each other, particularly where they sell and/or make completely unrelated products or services?

Here are a couple to start you off:

Tetley tea bags and Tetley's brewery

Trust House Forte hotels/Forte Group/Rocco Forte Hotels and Fortes coffee bars/ice cream parlours: not sure if both outfits were ever owned by the same holding company. In this case they are/were both chains of hospitality venues but a different type of hospitality venue.

AIUI the Forte Group was mainly a hotel group but did also own the Cafe Royal in London and a number of restaurant chains such as Little Chef and Harvester. Not sure if the Fortes coffee bars cum ice cream parlours are, or ever were, also part of the Forte Group or just a coincidence. Until now I didn't know that any Fortes coffee bars still existed but apparently they still have outlets in Burnham-on-Sea, Colwyn Bay, Llandudno and Swanage. I remember going to the one in Llandudno as a child about 40 (pun intended!) odd years ago!

 

[Ashley Hill]

Apple Corps (Beatles) and Apple.

 

[LUYMun]

Stagecoach (national bus company) and Stagecoach (national performing arts school).

 

[52290]

There's our posher than Waitrose supermarket Booths and that locomotive graveyard of the same name in Rotherham. It confused me at first!

 

[Ashley Hill]

Brains (Faggots) Brains (Brewery) Brain (former German record company.

 

[Western Lord]

There's many examples of companies that have divested parts of themselves and the bits are in different ownership. Thus:- P & O Cruises is not owned by P & O. Volvo cars is not owned by Volvo (which makes trucks and much else). SAAB cars were sold off and are no longer made but SAAB is still a major Swedish aerospace company. Then there's companies which were broken up and various companies have the rights to the brand in different fields and in different countries, a classic example being Dunlop.

 

[philjo]

Avanti -train operating company
Avanti travel insurance - based in Northampton since 2017 (founded in 2009 in Essex)

Arriva - bus/rail operator
Aviva - insurance company.

I know a couple of people who thought the bus company also provided their house insurance.

 

[Jon_jpwh]

Harveys - Sussex Brewery
Harveys - Sherry producer

There's many examples of companies that have divested parts of themselves and the bits are in different ownership. Thus:- P & O Cruises is not owned by P & O. Volvo cars is not owned by Volvo (which makes trucks and much else). SAAB cars were sold off and are no longer made but SAAB is still a major Swedish aerospace company. Then there's companies which were broken up and various companies have the rights to the brand in different fields and in different countries, a classic example being Dunlop.

One of the best examples of this are the Richard Branson Virgin companies.

 

[Western Lord]

Harveys - Sussex Brewery
Harveys - Sherry producer


One of the best examples of this are the Richard Branson Virgin companies.

The Branson method is to put a small amount of money into someone else's project in return for having Virgin branding on it. Rather different to the examples I mentioned.

 

[stadler]

I can think of these eight. Some of these provide similar services but others are completely different.

1. Woolworths:

There are three different unrelated Woolworths stores that have operated or currently operate that are all completely unrelated to each other.

• Woolworths UK / USA / Mexico / Germany - This is the Woolworths that we all know. This is the company that was F & W Woolworths originally. They shut down in the UK in 2008. They shut down in the USA in 1997. But they still operate in Mexico and Germany and their German division has a few Austria and Poland stores as well.

• Woolworths Australia & New Zealand - This is the largest supermarket chain in both Australia and New Zealand and is just a standard ordinary supermarket. They have thousands of stores in both countries. They used to call themselves Countdown in New Zealand but they now go by Woolworths in both countries.

• Woolworths South Africa - This is a South African M&S knockoff supermarket. It is one of the largest South African supermarket chains. They also exist in a couple other African countries. They are not owned by M&S but they copy M&S in every possible way. You actually think you are inside an M&S when you visit this supermarket.

So three different businesses with stores called Woolworths but all completely unrelated.

2. Translink:

• Translink Northern Ireland - Operates trains and buses and coaches across Northern Ireland.

• Translink Canada - Operates trains and buses and metros across Vancouver in British Columbia in Canada.

• Translink Australia - Operates trains and buses and trams across Brisbane and Queensland in Australia.

All three are unrelated but it causes a lot of confusion on Twitter with people tweeting the wrong Translink by accident.

3. Metrolink:

• Metrolink Manchester - Operates trams in the Manchester area.

• Metrolink Los Angeles - Operates trains in the Los Angeles in California area.

• Metrolink St Louis - Operates trams in the St Louis in Illinois and Missouri area.

I think this is just a common name for public transport companies to use.

4. Metrobus:

• Metrobus Crawley - Operates buses all across cities and towns and villages in the Sussex and Surrey and Kent areas.

• Metrobus Bristol - Operates high frequency bus services in the Bristol area.

• Metrobus Mexico - Operates high frequency buses in the Mexico City area.

Again i think this is just another common name for public transport companies.

5. South West Trains / South West Airlines:

• South West Trains - This is the train company that ran from 1996 to 2017 and was then replaced by the current SWR operater.

• South West Airlines - This is a major large budget airline operating in the USA and some neighbouring countries.

What makes things even more funny is that they have an almost identical livery. The livery that South West Airlines use on the airplanes is almost identical to the livery that South West Trains used on their 450 and 458/5 fleets. But the two companies are completely unrelated.

6. Premier / Premier Inn:

• Premier - This is one of the five convenience shop chains that Tesco own (with Budgens / Family Shopper / Londis / One Stop / Premier being the five brands) and are found all over the UK.

• Premier Inn - This is one of the largest hotel chains with thousands of hotels found all over the UK.

What makes this funny too is that their colour scheme is exactly the same. They are both purple and look so similar. But they are both completely unrelated so it is just coincidence.

7. Go Ahead:

• Go Ahead Group - One of the largest public transport companies running buses and trains across the UK.

• Go Ahead Bars - A company that makes breakfast cereal bars that are sold in our supermarkets in the UK.

The same name but at least their logos and colour schemes are very different.

8. HP:

• HP Computers - A company that produces laptop and desktop computers and other electronics.

• HP Sauce - A company owned by Heinz that produces Brown Sauce and i think some other comdiments.

I think the HP letters in both stand for different things but they are both always abbreviated to HP so they sound the same.

 

[DelW]

Definitely trivial as it's a common name, but Smith's Instruments, Smith's Crisps and WHSmith are unrelated.

The crisp company is part of Walker's (and ultimately owned by Pepsi), while Smith's Instruments is now divided between a very large engineering company just called Smith's and a small company that makes vehicle instruments using the Smith's Instruments name under licence.

There's also a toy retailer called Smyth's, which I think is based in Ireland.

 

[Hadlow Road]

The Ritz hotel in Piccadilly W1 and a Ritz in Funchal, Madeira.

 

[BrandanM]

Wilko - The home & garden products store.

Wilco - The car parts, accessories & bicycle store.

 

[The North Briton]

Purina (brand of pet food)
PerUna (M&S upmarket clothing brand)

 

[dd1]

Thalys: brand name for high-speed cross-border trains (between France and Germany, Belgium, Netherlands).

Thales: engineering and electronics corporation (based in France).

 

[317 forever]

Avanti -train operating company
Avanti travel insurance - based in Northampton since 2017 (founded in 2009 in Essex)

Arriva - bus/rail operator
Aviva - insurance company.

I know a couple of people who thought the bus company also provided their house insurance.

There's also an Avanti restaurant in Stockport, a few minutes walk from where I live. I've never had a meal there though.

 

[signed]

Renault : Makes cars and vans in France
Renault Trucks : Former division of Renault (when it was called Renault Véhicules Industriels, Renault Industrial Vehicles) now totally owned by Volvo and is just a rebadged version of the Volvo trucks

 

[zero]

Avanti is an Australian brand of kitchenware/drinkware
Avanti is is a New Zealand bicycle company

From Wikipedia - it is also the name of several models of cars, an airplane, several publications and several companies.

 

[lyndhurst25]

i always muddle up Walkers Crisps (potato based snacks) and Walker Crips (stockbrokers).

 

[Statto]

How about Tayto, one is from Northern Ireland the other from the Republic Of Ireland, they both make crisps & snacks, & are both unrelated to each other they just happen to have the same name.

Tayto (Republic of Ireland) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Tayto (Northern Ireland) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[dgl]

Kenwood,

The Kenwood that makes kitchen gadgets and the Kenwood (now JVCKenwood) that makes audio equipment (previously using the names Trio and Lafayette).
The kitchen gadgets company is named from the founder and the audio company was a made up name for an originally American company to exclusively import Trio products, which were rebranded Kenwood. Later on the Japanese Trio company ended up buying Kenwood and adopting it's name due to Kenwood becoming much more recognisable as a brand.

 

[nw1]

Stagecoach (national bus company) and Stagecoach (national performing arts school).

Also the Stage Coach brand used by NBC in the mid-80s (I remember Stage Coach 737, for example, which I think went from Brighton to Heathrow via Gatwick and Guildford). For a while I thought there was some connection there, e.g. the Stage Coach brand then being privatised as Stagecoach.

How about Tayto, one is from Northern Ireland the other from the Republic Of Ireland, they both make crisps & snacks, & are both unrelated to each other they just happen to have the same name.

Tayto (Republic of Ireland) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Tayto (Northern Ireland) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Apparently the NI Tayto licenses the recipes and branding from the Republic Tayto, though.

 

[Galvanize]

There's also an Avanti restaurant in Stockport, a few minutes walk from where I live. I've never had a meal there though.

Avanti chippy in Partick, Glasgow too!

Walkers…Crisps
Walkers…Builders Merchants near Orpington.

 

[Springs Branch]

SC Johnson - US-based headquartered company with various brands of household cleaning products (e.g. Pledge polish, Glade air fresheners, Mr Muscle oven cleaner etc.)

Johnson & Johnson - US-based producer of medical & pharmaceutical products and personal care brands (e.g. Johnson's Baby Powder, Neutrogena shampoo etc.)

 

[MotCO]

I can think of these eight. Some of these provide similar services but others are completely different.

1. Woolworths:

There are three different unrelated Woolworths stores that have operated or currently operate that are all completely unrelated to each other.

• Woolworths UK / USA / Mexico / Germany - This is the Woolworths that we all know. This is the company that was F & W Woolworths originally. They shut down in the UK in 2008. They shut down in the USA in 1997. But they still operate in Mexico and Germany and their German division has a few Austria and Poland stores as well.

• Woolworths Australia & New Zealand - This is the largest supermarket chain in both Australia and New Zealand and is just a standard ordinary supermarket. They have thousands of stores in both countries. They used to call themselves Countdown in New Zealand but they now go by Woolworths in both countries.

• Woolworths South Africa - This is a South African M&S knockoff supermarket. It is one of the largest South African supermarket chains. They also exist in a couple other African countries. They are not owned by M&S but they copy M&S in every possible way. You actually think you are inside an M&S when you visit this supermarket.

So three different businesses with stores called Woolworths but all completely unrelated.

2. Translink:

• Translink Northern Ireland - Operates trains and buses and coaches across Northern Ireland.

• Translink Canada - Operates trains and buses and metros across Vancouver in British Columbia in Canada.

• Translink Australia - Operates trains and buses and trams across Brisbane and Queensland in Australia.

All three are unrelated but it causes a lot of confusion on Twitter with people tweeting the wrong Translink by accident.

3. Metrolink:

• Metrolink Manchester - Operates trams in the Manchester area.

• Metrolink Los Angeles - Operates trains in the Los Angeles in California area.

• Metrolink St Louis - Operates trams in the St Louis in Illinois and Missouri area.

I think this is just a common name for public transport companies to use.

4. Metrobus:

• Metrobus Crawley - Operates buses all across cities and towns and villages in the Sussex and Surrey and Kent areas.

• Metrobus Bristol - Operates high frequency bus services in the Bristol area.

• Metrobus Mexico - Operates high frequency buses in the Mexico City area.

Again i think this is just another common name for public transport companies.

5. South West Trains / South West Airlines:

• South West Trains - This is the train company that ran from 1996 to 2017 and was then replaced by the current SWR operater.

• South West Airlines - This is a major large budget airline operating in the USA and some neighbouring countries.

What makes things even more funny is that they have an almost identical livery. The livery that South West Airlines use on the airplanes is almost identical to the livery that South West Trains used on their 450 and 458/5 fleets. But the two companies are completely unrelated.

6. Premier / Premier Inn:

• Premier - This is one of the five convenience shop chains that Tesco own (with Budgens / Family Shopper / Londis / One Stop / Premier being the five brands) and are found all over the UK.

• Premier Inn - This is one of the largest hotel chains with thousands of hotels found all over the UK.

What makes this funny too is that their colour scheme is exactly the same. They are both purple and look so similar. But they are both completely unrelated so it is just coincidence.

7. Go Ahead:

• Go Ahead Group - One of the largest public transport companies running buses and trains across the UK.

• Go Ahead Bars - A company that makes breakfast cereal bars that are sold in our supermarkets in the UK.

The same name but at least their logos and colour schemes are very different.

8. HP:

• HP Computers - A company that produces laptop and desktop computers and other electronics.

• HP Sauce - A company owned by Heinz that produces Brown Sauce and i think some other comdiments.

I think the HP letters in both stand for different things but they are both always abbreviated to HP so they sound the same.

HP computers is Hewlett Packard. HP sauce i believe is named after the Houses of Parliament.

 

[nw1]

GWR (the railway company) and GWR (the local radio group, later GCap Media)?

 

[PauloDavesi]

McLaren Automotive, a car manufaturer & operator or racing teams

McLaren Prams, Manufaturers of prams and buggies for young children.

 

[gg1]

Apparently the NI Tayto licenses the recipes and branding from the Republic Tayto, though.

Branding maybe but I doubt they licence the recipe, where there are same flavours in the both brands, the NI and RoI Taytos taste very different.

 

[lxfe_mxtterz]

i always muddle up Walkers Crisps (potato based snacks) and Walker Crips (stockbrokers).

You've also got Walker's Shortbread (and biscuits). I know a few people who think the crisps and biscuits are the same company.

 

[gg1]

Dragon - a Welsh petrol station chain and a Chinese maker of plastic model kits