New constituency boundaries and candidates in Preston, Chorley and South Ribble for the 2024 general electionPreston City Council local elections 2024: Updates, results and reactionIt’s April 2024 and his burger eatery and bar, Smashed, in Preston, has closed with very little notice. As with most things he does on social media, it’s done mischievously – he announced the closure on 1 April.
Very few independent hospitality businesses would claim to be blessed with money in 2024. It’s estimated that eight hospitality sites closed every day in the UK in 2023. Evans, unable to afford legal advice, has been relying on ChatGPT to help form his emails. Our investigation began in April and threat of legal action continues at the time of publication.
In June 2021, Imran Husain opened Smash Patties, a takeaway offering both classic and smash burgers from an industrial park in Wembley. Some two years after it was submitted, the hearing officer ruling on the application noted that the “average consumer is not likely to mistake one for the other” but refused to grant the trademark. As a result, she ordered Smash Patties to pay the US giant £1,850 in costs.
“I think it just brings you down. It’s all I think about, how am I going to survive. It’s not just the £30,000, it’s what I put into the initial business in London. It’s just been a nightmare.” “However, US corporations are notoriously sensitive about their brands being used without consent, so look before you leap should be the motto.”
A glance around JustEat, Deliveroo or UberEats even in Preston shows how ubiquitous the term ‘smash’ or ‘smashed’ is in relation toe burgers. “It’s been a mainstay of the burger revolution led by the street food and food truck sector in the UK for well over a decade; most likely brought here by the meat wagon in the mid to late 2000’s. It’s definitely how you want your burger cooked as you get a more intense beef taste.