Textile firm expands with confidence after protecting intellectual property rights

An Accrington textile manufacturer is set to celebrate its centenary in style after safeguarding its future expansion with a £1,500 grant from Boost’s Growth Voucher scheme.

Second generation family firm Lantex has used the Boost finance – plus an extra £1,000 from its own funds – to protect its intellectual property rights, as it continues to drive impressive growth.

Established in 1918, Lantex supplies kitchen textile products to the hospitality sector, printing industry and online textile designers.

Products include ‘blank’ tea towels, oven gloves, cotton canvas bags and cotton aprons that can be printed on by customers, as well as cloth that is cut by Lantex and printed on by customers before being returned to Lantex for sewing.

Boost is Lancashire’s Business Growth Hub and is led by the Lancashire LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership) and Lancashire County Council, and supported by funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the contribution made by the Growth Voucher is matched by the business.

Through Boost the company’s chairman, David Hardman was visited by senior business advisor Brian Corbett who carried out a business support review and recommended a Growth Voucher to protect Lantex’s intellectual property against illegal copying by competitors.

As a result, Lantex has secured registered trademark protection for its name and brands including Bamboo care, Bamboo textiles, Hot Pot and HTS Print & Design.

David said: “The Growth Voucher acted as an incentive to investment – so much so that we wanted to go the extra mile and used our own funds for additional safeguards. We are expanding into new fields; in particular online kitchen textile design and this protection means we feel much less vulnerable to having our products illegally copied.”

Lantex was acquired by David’s father, Harry, three years after the business was founded at the end of the First World War. It remains largely family owned and can look ahead to a bright future.

David added: “We are constantly on the lookout for sewing machinists because there is something of a skills gap in this area. It’s a valuable skill to acquire for younger people because it pays well and you can work from home.”

Brian said: “This is a long-term investment to protect the company and its brands from being fraudulently copied and allow the trade mark registrations to be defended in the future.

“It was a pleasure to work with David who was very receptive and keen to apply the advice directly to the development of the business. The Growth Voucher funding added value to a key area and is helping Lantex to expand with confidence.”