Consumer goods giant snaps up houseware brand
Staffordshire’s RKW has acquired small domestic appliances and housewares brand Swan Products, the firm which invented the first electric kettle.
RKW, which is the trading division of family-owned Sutton Venture Group (SVG), says Stoke-based Swan will be integrated into the business, where it will benefit from the group’s centralised services and global infrastructure.
The appliances firm dates back to the 1920s, and has created modern kitchenware and cookware collections, becoming the UK’s number one appliance brand in 1968.
RKW, established in 1989 employs more than 600 staff across its offices in the UK, Hong Kong, India and China.
The acquisition of Swan follows RKW’s purchase of historic ceramics brand Wade, resulting in the creation of 100 jobs and the Goblin vacuum cleaner brand from Glen Electric.
The company also designs, manufactures and distributes small domestic appliances and housewares for leading brands including Black and Decker, Lavazza, Morphy Richards, Tower, Smeg, Swan, Russell Hobbs and Breville.
From RKW’s 750,000 sq ft distribution centre in Staffordshire, products are sold to major UK retailers which include Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Amazon.
SVG Chairman Rob Sutton said: “RKW has been a key partner for Swan and the acquisition fits perfectly with our strategy of building British brands into major Global players through our international network of supply partners and customers.
“We have a talented team and an exciting roadmap of innovation and new product developments which will help propel Swan to become a leading brand in the housewares market. I would like to thank Rob Wileman and Paul Simpson for their work developing the Swan brand and wish them all the best for the future”.
