Forbuoys

Region

United Kingdom

Associated With

TM Retail - operator of the Forbuoys fascia

Defining Feature

Blue and yellow newsagent signs on local shopfronts

Status

Unresolved - nationwide final-fascia date not established

Overview

Forbuoys was a British newsagent fascia, marked by blue and yellow signs on local shopfronts.

By 2001, Forbuoys was one of four banners in TM's UK retail business, alongside Martins, McColl and More. A photograph identified as a 1976 Forbuoys interior shows a confectionery counter lined with jars and packet sweets.

In 2006, management announced that Forbuoys and Dillons signs would be replaced by Martins or McColl fascias. The programme was intended to finish by 2008, although a Forbuoys sign was still standing in Barton-upon-Humber that October.

Why It Mattered

A change of name above the door could make a local shop look different without the shop itself closing. Management wanted a stronger, simpler identity across the group, replacing Forbuoys with Martins or McColl. The familiar shopfront name was what the programme set out to remove.

The Two Forbuoys Companies

• Company 00298945 was incorporated on 28 March 1935; this is a corporate date, not a verified first-shop opening.
• It ceased to be named Forbuoys Limited on 20 June 2006 and became Martin McColl Limited.
• The separate company 00838982 was incorporated as Ricafeg in 1965 and adopted the Forbuoys Limited name on 20 June 2006.
• Company 00298945 was dissolved on 11 February 2026; that event does not date the disappearance of the shop fascia.

TM Retail and the Rebadging Plan

• Electra's 2001 annual report describes Forbuoys, Martins, McColl and More as banners within TM's UK retail business.
• The report records TM's 1995 buyout and 1998 acquisition of Martin Retail Group as group transactions, not foundations of Forbuoys.
• TM Retail management said in April 2006 that rebadging would begin that summer and was intended to finish by 2008.
• Management presented the programme as a move towards a stronger, simpler group identity.

Local Shop and Service Records

• A Flickr uploader identifies a Buckland Parade interior as Forbuoys Newsagents & Post Office and dates it to 2 January 1976; the exact date and photographer remain unverified.
• Stratfield Mortimer Parish Council's minutes of 12 October 2006 record a £4.75 payment to Forbuoys Ltd for newspapers; this documents one local supply arrangement, not every branch.
• David Wright's photograph shows the Forbuoys fascia still displayed in Barton-upon-Humber on 14 October 2006.

Gallery