Stewart evolves brand
Stewart, the British plastics manufacturer, has made a series of changes to its corporate identity. The changes, which represent an evolution of the company’s widely recognised and well respected brand, follow the investment by private equity firm, ECI and BIMBO (buy in / management buy out) deal announced in June 2011.
The new brand will enable the business to build on its strengths in its core areas of gardening, catering and homewares and enter new markets and business sectors.
The Stewart brand will incorporate the newly named Stewart Garden, Stewart Home and Stewart Catering divisions. Three new divisions, Stewart Automotive, Stewart Medical and Stewart Aerospace will be launched in the coming months.
Imagery on Stewart products, packaging design and point of sale displays at retail outlets will feature the Union Jack to underline the company’s position as a major British manufacturer and project a consistent brand to consumers.
“Stewart has a great history of manufacturing in the UK and unrivalled customer loyalty across all its product ranges,” said CEO Richard Butler. “The development of this exceptional brand puts the business in the best possible position to exploit growth opportunities in existing and new sectors and domestic and international markets.”
The company’s continued investment in award-winning sustainable British-made products were on display at three major trade shows in the second half of this year. Stewart Garden division launched the new ranges at GLEE 2011 in Birmingham.
The company also has a new url, stewartlimited.co.uk. Urls have also been established for each division. These are:
Stewart-garden.co.uk Stewart-automotive.co.uk
Stewart-home.co.uk Stewart-medical.co.uk
Stewart-catering.co.uk Stewart-aerospace.co.uk
For more information and pictures contact redheadPRSara Tye on 07786 176617 or sara@redheadpr.co.uk or Emma De Maio on 07921 160 134 or email emma@redheadpr.co.uk
Stewart - backgrounder
Formed in 1945, Stewart is the UK market leader in the manufacture and supply of technical plastic moulded products for the gardening, home and professional catering sectors. The company offers a large range of products in its portfolio ranging from garden planters and propagators, to food containers and specialist storage products. The company employs 75 people in Croydon and enjoyed a turnover in 2010 of £13 million.
In June 2011 ECI, the mid-market private equity specialist, invested £12 million in the company in a BIMBO (buy-in / management buyout) deal that valued the business at £17 million. A new management structure saw Richard Butler join as Group CEO. Butler has significant knowledge of the advanced technical plastics sector, having worked for leading manufacturers in the aerospace and automotive sector. Lee Mowle, the previous owner and CEO, became Managing Director of the gardening and catering divisions, retaining a substantial shareholding in the company.
In the months following the BIMBO, Stewart made a series of changes to its brand and corporate identity and established discrete divisions for the core sectors it serves.
Stewart Garden produces grow your own products, watering, pots, propagators and garden accessories. These are available in over 1000 outlets across the UK and Eire including major DIY outlets such as Homebase and Wilkinsons and garden centres across the UK such as Dobbies and Klondyke/Strikes, The Garden Centre Group and some 600 plus independent garden centres. Having achieved a dominant position in the domestic market by offering durable, lifestyle-driven value for money products. The company continues to invest heavily in new product development.
Stewart Garden plays a full and active role in the gardening and leisure industry through its membership of:
- GIMA – the Garden Industry Manufacturers Association
- Gardenex – the Federation of Garden and Leisure Manufacturers Limited, and
- HTA – the Horticultural Trades Association
Stewart won the House Beautiful Best Product Garden Category in 2005 and the Klondyke Dry Goods Supplier Award in 2010. The company was a GIMA Awards - POS Finalist in 2009, and Best of British Finalist in 2011. Its Heat and Grow Thermostatic Propagator was top in the Which? Gardening Best Buy test on windowsill propagators 2011.
Stewart Home provides food storage and homewares products. These comprise of the Refine, Essentials and Seal Fresh food and drink storage collections, offering hygienic storage in a wide range of colours and shapes.
Stewart Catering supplies the Gastronorm and Seal Fresh food storage ranges to the catering industry and specialist cook shops via wholesale and cash and carry outlets.
Other divisions recently established under the Stewart umbrella are:
Stewart Aerospace
Stewart Automotive
Stewart Medical
Each division of Stewart is BS ISO 9001-2000 accredited and operates from the company’s manufacturing, warehousing and distribution centre in Croydon, Surrey.
For more information visit www.stewartlimited.co.uk
For editorial enquiries, pictures, interviews and samples, contact Sara Tye on 07786 176 617 or email sara@redheadpr.co.uk.
