LANCASHIRE, UK — Bill Beaumont Textiles, a small decorative fabric wholesaler based in Chorley, Lancashire, UK, was sold to the Al Guthmi Group of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia May 17 for an undisclosed price. It is understood that Beaumont has sales under five million pounds according to industry experts in the UK. The company started in the home furnishings business in 1998 after being in the apparel business for many years under a different name. Daniel Beaumont, who joined the company in 2011, continues as Managing Director and as a shareholder with the firm his father (Bill) started. Bill and his wife Hilary (who was the company design director), have both retired since the company was sold. Al Guthmi was looking for a UK presence and Beaumont apparently fit the strategy to access the European market. Mohammed O. Al-Guthmi Sons Co. is the largest wholesaler of decorative fabrics in the Middle East which several years ago had sales in the $50 million range. The company is based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and Ahmed Al-Guthmi is the owner. In recent years, Al-Guthmi has introduced its own export brand of fabrics under the names of Cocoon and Murex. These brands were first shown at Heimtextil in 2016. At the time, Al Guthmi said: “we had all of our eggs in one basket. Now, we are taking some of those eggs and putting them in new baskets.”