Local pub chain threatens English bar with legal action over name

The Granny Annie's group has bars in Londonderry, Limavady and Belfast.. The group owns five other bars under different names is believed to employ as many as 500 people.

The company is owned by brothers, Willis and Ryan McLaughlin from Limavady.

The Granny Annie's group threatened its Sunderland namesake with legal action over its use of a variation of the same name and its perceived mimicking of several of the Northern Ireland chain's features.

The Granny Annie's bar in Sunderland opened last week and like its Northern Ireland counterpart, features old furniture attached to the ceiling upside down.

Formerly known as The Smugglers, the owner of Granny Annie's in Sunderland claims to have named the pub after his mother Anne Karczewski.