Crew's Tru, Whiteheads Merge
March 18, 2003
CAPE TOWN, South Africa – Tru, a U.K.-based converter founded by Matthew Crew two years ago, has merged into Whiteheads Fabrics Ltd, the South African fabric printer now owned by Stefano Magni.
Whiteheads expects to benefit from Crew's expertise and contacts in the printed textiles industry. In the Whiteheads group, Crew's role will be to develop and drive its fabric divisions.
''We will use the Tru brand in the decorative cut wholesale business and Whiteheads will target the mass market with a view to selling volume meterage created within its mill from South Africa," said Crew.
''The objective will be to develop a multiple brand strategy targeting different segments of the trade."
Mike Beaton, who will work with Crew, will concentrate on packaged goods including readymade curtains. This is presently a U.K.-only activity, but Crew said the intentions are to expand this effort in mainland Europe ''where there are massive opportunities."
Magni said (F&FI Summer 2002) Whiteheads "is planning to add more value to its products by increasing its readymade curtaining and bedding output." He also said that globalization dictates more export for Whiteheads. About 25 percent of its production is exported to Northern Europe, the U.K. Australia and Asia. Magni said he intends to bring the home textiles portion of the Whiteheads business to a higher level. By bringing Crew into the organization Whiteheads expects to significantly boost its profile in home furnishings.
Whiteheads is generating sales in excess of $34 million with a production of 24 million meters annually of home furnishings fabrics.
''With my previous experience at Crowson, which was one of the strongest print companies back in the '90s, I have much to contribute towards the group objectives,'' Crew said. While the terms of the deal remain private, it is known that Crew has become a shareholder of the Whiteheads group. Crew, almost 40, started his career 22 years ago at Whiteheads. He left after four years to join Crowson, one of the largest converters in Europe.
Rocked by labor strikes and corporate bloat, Whiteheads was purchased by Stefano Magni last year. Magni took the company under private ownership after it had been in corporate hands for ''far to long,'' said Crew.
''In the past 18 months under Magni, Whiteheads has done much to improve the production unit in South Africa and it has forged strong alliances with all main converters of S.A.''
Crew visited the mill at the end of January and said he was impressed with the product development and manufacturing skills he saw there. ''It's good to see a print mill moving forward when all around you, they are going bust. We just lost Alexander Drew, another U.K. printer in February.'' F&FI
Whiteheads expects to benefit from Crew's expertise and contacts in the printed textiles industry. In the Whiteheads group, Crew's role will be to develop and drive its fabric divisions.
''We will use the Tru brand in the decorative cut wholesale business and Whiteheads will target the mass market with a view to selling volume meterage created within its mill from South Africa," said Crew.
''The objective will be to develop a multiple brand strategy targeting different segments of the trade."
Mike Beaton, who will work with Crew, will concentrate on packaged goods including readymade curtains. This is presently a U.K.-only activity, but Crew said the intentions are to expand this effort in mainland Europe ''where there are massive opportunities."
Magni said (F&FI Summer 2002) Whiteheads "is planning to add more value to its products by increasing its readymade curtaining and bedding output." He also said that globalization dictates more export for Whiteheads. About 25 percent of its production is exported to Northern Europe, the U.K. Australia and Asia. Magni said he intends to bring the home textiles portion of the Whiteheads business to a higher level. By bringing Crew into the organization Whiteheads expects to significantly boost its profile in home furnishings.
Whiteheads is generating sales in excess of $34 million with a production of 24 million meters annually of home furnishings fabrics.
''With my previous experience at Crowson, which was one of the strongest print companies back in the '90s, I have much to contribute towards the group objectives,'' Crew said. While the terms of the deal remain private, it is known that Crew has become a shareholder of the Whiteheads group. Crew, almost 40, started his career 22 years ago at Whiteheads. He left after four years to join Crowson, one of the largest converters in Europe.
Rocked by labor strikes and corporate bloat, Whiteheads was purchased by Stefano Magni last year. Magni took the company under private ownership after it had been in corporate hands for ''far to long,'' said Crew.
''In the past 18 months under Magni, Whiteheads has done much to improve the production unit in South Africa and it has forged strong alliances with all main converters of S.A.''
Crew visited the mill at the end of January and said he was impressed with the product development and manufacturing skills he saw there. ''It's good to see a print mill moving forward when all around you, they are going bust. We just lost Alexander Drew, another U.K. printer in February.'' F&FI
