# Coloroll > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Coloroll > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Coloroll.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coloroll > Source revision: 1339646760 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|United Kingdom wallpaper brand}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}} '''Coloroll''' is a British [wallpaper](/source/wallpaper) brand owned by CWV Ltd. Developed from a family-owned wallpaper company founded in the 1970s, during the 1980s Coloroll Group became a dominant publicly listed [home furnishing](/source/home_furnishing)s business, which collapsed in 1990 through excessive debt. Of the ten residual brands that survived the collapse, nine of the businesses survive presently. ==Foundation== The company was founded in 1970 by the Gatward family, as a printed [paper bag](/source/paper_bag) manufacturer. After hiring marketing manager John Bray, he developed a strategy to move into wallpaper manufacture. Hiring designers John Wilman and Linda Beard, they developed a range similar to the classic fashion look developed by Welsh entrepreneur [Laura Ashley](/source/Laura_Ashley). To develop new overseas markets, Bray hired John Ashcroft from competitor [Crown Wallpaper](/source/Crown_Wallpaper) as export manager. ==Coloroll Group== Appointed managing director in 1981, Ashcroft bought the Gatwards and Bray out of the business in 1984. Ashcroft's strategy was to extend the Wilman/Beard designs across a range of home furnishings, to provide a co-ordinated whole home look to the consumer. After floating the business in 1985 – leading shareholders included the pension funds of [Scottish Amicable](/source/Scottish_Amicable_Life_Assurance) and [British Coal](/source/British_Coal) – the company spent £420 million in the next five years on acquisitions, of which £16 million was spent in the United States, taking the strategic vision into a reality. The brands they bought included: *Alexander Drew, printing *Burlington Wallcoverings, later sold to Graham & Brown *[Denby Pottery Company](/source/Denby_Pottery_Company){{cite web|url=http://www.stokemuseums.org.uk/collections/browse_collections/ceramics/coloroll|title=Coloroll Ceramics|publisher=Stoke Museums|accessdate=11 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727191820/http://www.stokemuseums.org.uk/collections/browse_collections/ceramics/coloroll|archive-date=27 July 2011|url-status=dead}} *[Edinburgh Crystal](/source/Edinburgh_Crystal) *[Kosset Carpets](/source/Kosset_Carpets) *[Royal Winton](/source/Royal_Winton){{cite web|url=http://www.thepotteries.org/allpotters/286a.htm|title=Coloroll Ceramics Group|website=Thepotteries.org|accessdate=11 April 2011}} *[Staffordshire Potteries Ltd](/source/Staffordshire_Potteries_Ltd), sold off in the collapse of 1990 as [Staffordshire Tableware](/source/Staffordshire_Tableware) *[William Barrett Group](/source/William_Barrett_Group), furniture, later bought by property developers with assets sold to [Hampson Industries](/source/Hampson_Industries) *[Edward Fogarty](/source/Edward_Fogarty), duvet/pillow supplier *[Walmates Vinyl](/source/Walmates_Vinyl), US wallpaper manufacturer ===Collapse=== In 1988, the group paid £215 million for recently created clothing and carpet conglomerate [John Crowther](/source/John_Crowther), which had not itself been fully integrated. When Coloroll bought the John Crowther group they acquired [Herbert Johnson](/source/Herbert_Johnson_(hatters)). Coloroll sold this London firm of hatters to a management buy-out team called the [Response Group](/source/Response_Group).See Prior, Katherine (2012). ''In Good Hands: 250 Years of Craftsmanship at [Swaine Adeney Brigg](/source/Swaine_Adeney_Brigg)''. Cambridge: [John Adamson](/source/John_Adamson_(publisher)). {{ISBN|978-1-898565-09-3}} {{OCLC|815728722}}, p. 133. In 1989, the United States wallpaper operations were sold off to create cash. In 1990, a refinancing exercise led to an audit by the banks that showed that group debt was at £350 million. Refusing to underwrite the rising debt without an additional capital injection, proposed buyer [Candover Investments](/source/Candover_Investments) withdrew when the debt level increased to nearly £500 million. In June 1990, the [High Court](/source/High_Court) agreed at the banks' request to the appointment of [Ernst & Young](/source/Ernst_%26_Young) as receivers. In six months they agreed eight [management buyout](/source/management_buyout)s, and sold off two other business, including a sale to Blackburn family-run business, Graham & Brown. 1,500 employees in non-saleable businesses were made redundant, while less than half of the £200 million owed to the banks was recovered; lead lender [NatWest](/source/NatWest) took a £25 million loss. Swedish investment companies [Mercurius](/source/Mercurius_(Sweden)) and [Proventus](/source/Proventus), who had each paid £2.3 million for 5 per cent of the group in February 1990, lost their entire investment.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/rolling-over-the-past-three-years-after-the-demise-of-coloroll-david-bowen-picks-through-the-rubble-and-finds-strength-among-the-survivors-1505777.html|title=Rolling over the past|author=David Bowen|newspaper=[The Independent](/source/The_Independent)|date=21 November 1993|accessdate=11 April 2011}} ==References== {{Reflist|refs= {{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/pension-scandal-rise-and-fall-of-an-empire-founded-on-ego-and-expansion-david-bowen-examines-the-dramatic-career-of-a-man-who-personified-the-eighties-culture-of-instant-success-1368331.html|title=Pension Scandal – rise and fall of an empire founded on ego and expansion|author=David Bowen|newspaper=[The Independent](/source/The_Independent)|date=7 April 1994|accessdate=11 April 2011}} }} ==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20120211052055/http://www.wallpapers-uk.com/ColorollLanding.asp Official Website] {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Coloroll}} Category:Manufacturing companies established in 1970 Category:British brands Category:Design companies of the United Kingdom Category:Wallpaper manufacturers Category:Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange Category:Design companies established in 1970 Category:1970 establishments in England Category:Design companies disestablished in 1990 Category:Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1990 Category:1990 disestablishments in England --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Coloroll](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coloroll) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coloroll?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.