Waterstone's has become a household name since it was founded in 1982 by entrepreneur Tim Waterstone, however 30 years down the line and under new management the bookshop is controversially removing the apostrophe from its name, to become Waterstones.

James Daunt, the Managing Director at Waterstone's and the founder of rival book chain Daunt Books has justified the alteration in punctuation, saying “ Waterstones without an apostrophe is, in a digital world of URLs and email addresses, a more versatile and practical spelling.”

However, the Apostrophe Protection Society has fought back describing the change as “slapdash” especially coming from a bookshop. “If Sainsbury's and McDonald's can get it right,” they argue. “Why can't Waterstones.”

However, Daunt also suggests that the name change has subtler connotations. Founder Tim Waterstone left the chain more than a decade ago and the removal of possessive punctuation highlights the fact that the bookshop no longer belongs to him.

“It reflects an altogether truer picture of our business today which, while created by one, is now built on the continued contribution of thousands of individual booksellers,” explains Daunt.

The new, apostrophe-free name will be gradually implemented on all of the retailer’s written communication, in stores and online.