Coral copycats caught out

London consultancy Light & Coley is an inspiration to the betting shop industry – echoes of its designs for Coral are everywhere.

Light & Coley designer Sarah Fagan recently stormed into the office brandishing a William Hill poster which “fell off” a shop window. “Have you seen this?” she shrieked,outraged, almost causing a riot when fellow designers saw her point.

“It’s shameless – they haven’t even made an effort to develop the basis of our idea on their own,” says boss Alan Coley.

Tempers were roused again this week when the frontage for Putney betting shop Surrey Racing was spotted. It features large images of a golf ball and club and a snooker player’s hand, not at all dissimilar to Light & Coley’s work for Coral (DW 13 January).

Coral is loath to take legal action, apparently.