Portmeirion Group raises £18.6M, plans Spode rebrand

Portmeirion Group PLC has raised £17 million through a financial placing that it says will shore up its finances and enable it to continue funding its financial transformation plan. A subsequent retail offer raised an additional £1.6 million, bringing the total amount of equity raised to £18.6 million.

A placing is the allocation of securities to a limited number of institutional or other selected investors, as opposed to a public offering of shares, according to LexisNexis. All the company’s directors participated in the placing, the company said.

Portmeirion PLC recorded profitable years between its 2019 and 2024 fiscal years, but posted losses in fiscal 2025, citing the challenges of U.S. tariffs and “related disruption,” UK energy pricing and the industry introduction of non-lithium glaze, which affected yields.

Other headwinds included employment tax changes, having to operate with a constrained balance sheet, inefficient factory economics and over-reliance on the U.S. and Korean markets, Portmeirion PLC said.

The company initiated a transformation plan in March 2025 to address its financial struggles. The plan includes optimizing inventory and driving increased gross margin returns; focusing on the “hero” brands of Spode and Portmeirion alongside a relaunch of Royal Worcester; international expansion, particularly in China, India, South America, Japan and Australia; enhancing its own e-commerce efforts; and pursuing licensing opportunities.

The plan is underpinned by what the company calls the “Fortress Balance Sheet,” which includes raising equity.

The company said it also plans to rename itself Spode PLC to capitalize on Spode’s heritage and name recognition in the market. It is a change to its listed name; no brand names within the company’s portfolio will change, the company said.

It also plans to change its financial year-end from Dec. 31 to “a year end more appropriate to our business and trading seasonality.”

A new CEO, Michael Scheepers, was appointed on May 6.

After the equity raise, Peter Tracey, non-executive chairman of Portmeirion Group, said, “This placing marks a major step forward towards achieving our Fortress Balance Sheet objective. On completion of the placing, and with a new 5-year ABL facility in place, we can focus on delivering our ‘Portmeirion: Elevated’ transformation plan from a position of financial strength. We expect the balance sheet to improve further over the next 12 months with the self-help initiatives we have already announced.

“We are delighted to see the placing has been significantly oversubscribed and we are grateful to all participating shareholders for their support, from Sweden and Great Britain, existing and new. We have an experienced senior leadership team in place led by CEO Michael Scheepers, an exciting growth plan for 2027 and beyond, a substantially strengthened financial position and a portfolio of exceptional homeware brands. This gives the board significant confidence in the medium- and long-term prospects for the company to create substantial value for our shareholders.”