No more red triangle

According to Bass chief executive Tim Clarke, "Six Continents is a name which emphasises the global spread of the company."

Bass's hotel, pub and restaurant chain does indeed extend across six continents.

The firm said it had no plans to move into the seventh - Antarctica.

Healthy competition

The proposed name was chosen from a list of 10,000 entries, after the firm ran an internal competition among its staff.

The successful entrant will be sent on a luxury holiday, the company said.

That cost aside, Bass has set aside a budget of �375,000 towards the expense of rebranding.

The company's shareholders are due to vote on the change at an extraordinary general meeting on 20 July.

Separately, Japanese brokerage house Nomura won permission from the Department of Trade and Industry to acquire 988 of Bass's pubs.

The two firms agreed the deal, which is worth �625m, in February this year.