WAX Lyrical has been taken over in an £18m deal.

The home fragrance manufacturer at Lindal, which employs 122 people, has been bought by the homeware distributor and manufacturer Portmeirion.

The cash deal sees Portmeirion acquire the entire share capital of Wax Lyrical's parent company Lighthouse Holdings.

Stoke-on-Trent based Portmeirion already owns household-name brands such as Spode, Royal Worcester and Pimpernel.

Wax Lyrical is the UK's largest manufacturer of home fragrances, primarily scented candles and reed diffusers.

It supplies products under the Wax Lyrical and Colony names, and for leading luxury brands, and exports to more than 40 countries.

Lawrence Bryan, chief executive of Portmeirion, said: “We are proud to acquire a group delivering world class made-in-Britain home fragrances.

“Together with our existing strong brands, these new brands will drive our business forward and offer significant opportunities for growth.”

Portmeirion expects to grow Wax Lyrical's sales through its existing UK customers, websites and retail outlets, as well as into export markets such as the United States and South Korea.


Joanne Barber  Joanne Barber, managing director of Wax Lyrical, will continue to run the business.

She said: “We are delighted to be joining such an iconic British group which champions some much-loved British brands.

“Wax Lyrical is a great fit for the Portmeirion Group as we share a passion for quality British manufacturing. 

“The 122 strong Wax Lyrical team will continue to produce market leading home fragrance products at our base in the Lake District, under the guidance of the current management team. 

“It’s business as usual and we are all looking forward to the next chapter in Wax Lyrical’s history.”

In the year to December, Lighthouse Holdings reported pre-tax profits of £2.1m on sales of £13.8m, and had net assets of £7.6m at the year end.

It paid a dividend of £2m prior to the acquisition by Portmeirion.

The sale comes 10 years after Wax Lyrical, then the Colony Gift Company, was rescued by former BP executive Mike Armstead.

At that point it had debts of £14m and was losing £5.5m a year.

He turned the business around by beefing up manufacturing output, extending the product range and targeting export markets.

His achievements were recognised in 2012 when he was named  'businessperson of the year' in the CN Group Business Awards and Wax Lyrical won the 'best business (medium)' category.

Portmeirion funded the takeover from cash reserves and draw down on a new £10m revolving credit facility and a £2m overdraft from Lloyds Bank.