Cestrian in joint venture to capture textile business
Cestrian is targeting what it sees as a burgeoning UK direct-to-textile print market via a joint venture with Coral Design and Display. As of 1 April, the latter will operate as Cestrian's textile division with the name Coral Fabric Imaging and under the control of four directors - Cestrians' Phill Reynolds and Paul Whitehurst, and Coral's founders Mark Ward and Tony Kempton.
"The UK market for direct to textile printing will be worth at least ?10m by the end of 2011," said Ward. "Coral has been involved in the sector for a while and has a wealth of experience but is quite small. Knowing Cestrian is also interested in the sector, we went to talk to them about doing something together, and they were very enthusiastic, hence the joint venture."
Ward added: "We see there being a growing market for direct-to-print textiles in the UK for at least the next ten years. Europe has finally woken up to the potential. We reckon that by the end of 2011 Coral will be turning over above ?2m."
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