Leach has been acquired for an undisclosed sum by French-owned Chargeurs, a materials manufacturing and services group based in 34 countries across five continents and operating in four segments - temporary surface protection, garment interlinings, technical substrates and combed wool.
Chargeurs has supplied the Pearl material used in Leach’s lightboxes for the last seven years. Richard Leach, MD of the UK company said of its buy-out: “Having experienced ten consecutive years of expansion, a key part of our long-term strategy was to evaluate opportunities to build upon our reputation and legacy, on a global scale. We are very proud of our 127-year old heritage, and we do not want to shy away from that, but we’ve long known that we are still structured like a family-run business. This operating model does not support the level of next-step growth that we know we are capable of achieving, so we started evaluating the option to sell. But we have taken great care in choosing the new owner.
“Chargeurs is a 533m Euro turnover business of which more than 90% was generated outside France, and an unparalleled understanding of the market on a global scale. Established in 1872 they also have similar values to Leach in terms of quality, innovation and culture. The fit seems very natural, so we are therefore delighted to have reached the position where we can make this acquisition announcement today.”
With the financial backing of its new parent, Leach is turning its 16-hour per day operation into a 24-hour business, and Leach has his sights set on further product development.
“We typically invest a quarter of a million pounds per year into innovation and new product development,” he said. “But with the financial resources and international knowledge of the Chargeurs team - combined with our own - we have an even greater platform to launch new display products for retail, brand and visitor environments.
“By creating more of a closed loop business model with the supplier of our best-selling print material, we can also offer even sharper response times, which should give us a more distinct competitive edge in the marketplace.”
On the day-to-day running of the business Leach added: “In truth, it’s business as normal at our West Yorkshire headquarters. We’re maintaining the same offices, the same team, and the same brand.”
Leach was founded in 1891 by Leach’s great-grandfather, just two miles down the road from its current headquarters. The company began life as a one-man photographic studio and has grown to become a 100-strong business with over 500 customers and an annual turnover of £11m.
With a global customer portfolio spreading over 80 countries – including the world’s leading luxury fashion houses - the Chargeurs group has plans to double its turnover to 1bn Euro in the next five years.
