A TATTOO supplies business that secured a multi-million pound investment earlier this year is seeking further expansion in Europe after acquiring a company in France.<\/p>\n
Barber of Sheffield is looking for target companies in Italy, Germany and Holland after acquiring Northstar Tattoo Supply in Montpellier. Northstar supplies around 1,500 tattoo parlours throughout France and Belgium. <\/p>\n
Northstar’s founder Amandine Valette will be staying on for a period to assist with the transition and sales staff will continue to work in France.<\/p>\n
Barber has also set up its own operation in Spain with the appointment of an agent and the launch of a Spanish website.
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The company’s expansion follows the securing of a multi-million pound investment in May from venture capitalist Enterprise Ventures (EV) and PHD Equity Partners to finance its growth plans.<\/p>\n
Barber was established by Tony Crane in 1991 to sell stainless steel needles and blades to vets. However, body art products now account for the bulk of its turnover. <\/p>\n
It supplies tattoo studios with equipment for piercings and tattoos and has its own brands.<\/p>\n
Mr Crane said: “We have been planning for some time to move into Europe. This first acquisition gives us access to the French market which is a similar size to the UK. <\/p>\n
“Northstar is established and well respected in France – what we can bring to the table is the breadth of our product range. We are keen to expand further and are on the look-out for other suitable companies in Italy, Germany and Holland in particular.”<\/p>\n
Wayne Thomas, investment director at EV, said: “Barber is a successful home-grown business that has been increasing its turnover every year. The investment earlier this year has allowed it to step up a level, by giving it access to funding for acquisitions and allowing it to tap into the expertise of its equity investors.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A TATTOO supplies business that secured a multi-million pound investment earlier this year is seeking further expansion in Europe after acquiring a company in France.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":1382077,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-382077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-deals"],"yoast_head":"\n