Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Typhoon has been bought back by Peter Battersby.
Battersby sold the company, which went into administration in April, four years ago in order to focus on the US arm of the business. He has also now bought Typhoon US but his primary focus will be the UK. He has brought in Chris Stevens as Typhoon’s new managing director.
Battersby said his decision to return to the UK had been largely the result of continued support from retailers, staff and suppliers during “a challenging period”.
He went on: “It’s my view that with its rapid growth, overload of investment outside our primary brand, along with recent challenges, the Typhoon International Group had simply become unsustainable. It’s my intention to ensure a dynamic refocus solely on the Typhoon brand. Additional focus will be placed upon improved quality control and customer service.”
Typhoon has traded profitably since 1991, originally under the Taylor & Ng brand. The new company will be trading under its former name of Typhoon Europe, but the brand name and product collection will re-emerge unchanged. Typhoon will continue to operate from both its Chessington, Surrey headquarters and Lincoln warehouse.
Battersby is retaining as many as possible of the staff members, including John Hayden, who remains as sales and marketing director, and the company’s key designers. New to Typhoon as national account managers are Allison Connelly, Sharon Harris and Adam Krauze.
New managing director Stevens has spent 16 years in the housewares industry as senior buyer for several major companies.
He commented: “Peter’s reinstatement puts us in great financial shape. Retailers we’ve spoken with are hugely supportive of the new structure and excited by renewed enthusiasm to keep Typhoon on the housewares map.” He added that he wanted to bring “a fresh approach, focussing heavily on customer relations and prompt order fulfilment.”
