POP-UP CURRY STAND AMONG TEN BUSINESSES FEATURING THE BEST PUN

Customers can vote on the Simply Business website for the winner until May 13
Have YOU seen a better pun? Email [email protected]

A pop-up curry stand is among ten small businesses competing to be crowned with the best company name featuring a pun.

From unisex salons in Clerkenwell, London to a locksmith business in Hastings, East Sussex, the competition is fierce.

The ten businesses have been selected by the self-labelled 'punslinger' comedian Darren Walsh, with a cash prize of £2,500 on offer from insurance firm Simply Business for the winner.

Customers can vote on the Simply Business website for the winner until Monday May 13.

Explaining its decision behind the contest, the insurance company said: 'From Spandau Valet to Wok This Way, there's no shortage of creative names out there.'

Among the contenders are Clerkenwell hair specialists Barber Streisand, Manchester-based Indian street food store Tikka Chance On Me and Surelock Holmes, a locksmith company in Hastings.

They are joined by Fife-based printing company Prints Charming and the online retail shop Thready or Knott, owned and created by Elly Knott.

Elsewhere, Norfolk glaziers Pane in the Glass and the Get Stuffed eatery in Shadwell, east London both failed to make the shortlist.

Mr Walsh stated: 'Puns and wordplay seem to have a special place in British culture, so it's heartening to see that type of humour is central to the names of so many small businesses,' according to The Sun.

'It's been a tough job to whittle down the thousands of entries to a shortlist of ten, but I'm sure these business names will trigger a few involuntary laughs from the public.

'Whether you're partial to an Easy Lay or Barber Streisand, it's up to you to crown Britain's Best Small Business Name 2024.'

It comes after language learning platform Babbel scoured social media platforms to identify UK shops with clever or amusing names, before putting forward 120 store names to a public vote to find the one that represented the pun-acle of British humour.

In second and third place respectively, overall, came Harlech-based clothing shop Damsel In This Dress and removal company Jean Claude Van Man, from Southport.

Best of the East Midlands shop names was Ashbourne'sOn a Wick and a Prayer- a sparky name for a candle shop.

Similarly, a burger joint in Gravesend, Kent, put a humorous rift on titles via marriage, with its name Burger In Law.

Comedy fans in need of new glasses might be tempted to a trip to Specks In The City, based in London, while any heavy metal fans looking to get their laundry done could take a trip to Iron Maiden laundry service.

Music fans looking for rare vinyl and second-hand vinyl purchases could also take a trip to Vinyl Tap, a riff on the band portrayed in the 1984 classic film This Is Spinal Tap.

Have YOU seen a better pun? Email [email protected]

2024-05-07T13:00:15Z dg43tfdfdgfd