Killing in the name of

Well, not quite killing, but it looks as though there could be some legal fisticuffs at least. Martin Atkinson, currently in negotiations with owner Nick Todd over the sale of Spillers Records in Cardiff, has registered the names Spillers Music Ltd, Spillers Records Ltd and Spillers (The Oldest Record Shop In The World) Ltd with Companies House without Todd's permission. Unsurprisingly the move hasn't endeared him to Todd, who has referred to it as "underhand". It certainly seems rather curious.

Atkinson claims to be a long-time Spillers customer and "a firm supporter of independent traders" because "they make our city what it is". I'm a little concerned he is quoted as equating it with "the castle and Welsh lovespoon shop" in saying that, like them, "it should be on the tourist map" - after all, it's a fully operational record shop, not a centuries-old heritage site or a thinly disguised means of fleecing gullible American tourists of their money by selling them kitschified tradition. But if Atkinson really does have Spillers' best interests at heart, then it would be a shame if this results in the collapse of the negotiations to keep it alive.