FORMER Carlson vice-president Steve Endacott has been forced to drop the name Sundial from his new telesales operation, following a dispute with the company which owns the same brand.
Endacott set up his £2m venture in October, calling it Sundial, Holidays by Phone but it will now simply be known as Holidays by Phone.
Endacott said he had reached an agreement with manufacturing company Kastix to buy the name for £1,500; the firm had registered the Sundial name for a tour operation but had not used it since 1996.
Endacott alleges that when he sent the company a cheque, it changed its mind and demanded 50 times the agreed price.
He said: “I think they are relying on us not having time to change our stationery.
“But they’ve chosen the wrong person to pick on and I’m even considering suing them for completion of contract.
“We will simply call our company Holidays by Phone,” he added.
Kastix company secretary Graham Helm admitted he had agreed in principle a fee of £1,500 for the name but his board had overruled the decision.
He said: “I gave him the indication that it would be a formality because I expected it to be agreed.
“My board decided they didn’t want to sell and I apologised to Endacott. We used to have a company called Sundial Turkish Holidays and our managing director, Akin Celensu, has plans for the name.”
Helm denied demanding a higher price.
Meanwhile, Endacott revealed he had secured Teletext page 299, which includes up to 20 pages of advertising, for an annual cost of £500,000. He has recruited 70 people and goes live on December 1.