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Private company

Coloroll

United Kingdom wallpaper brand

Coloroll is a British wallpaper brand owned by CWV Ltd. Developed from a family-owned wallpaper company founded in the 1970s, during the 1980s Coloroll Group became a dominant publicly listed home furnishings business, which collapsed in 1990 through excessive debt. Of the ten residual brands that survived the collapse, nine of the businesses survive presently.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1970Founded1

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Coloroll is a British wallpaper brand owned by CWV Ltd.2

The story

The company was founded in 1970 by the Gatward family, as a printed paper bag manufacturer. After hiring marketing manager John Bray, he developed a strategy to move into wallpaper manufacture. Hiring designers John Wilman and Linda Beard, they developed a range similar to the classic fashion look developed by Welsh entrepreneur Laura Ashley. To develop new overseas markets, Bray hired John Ashcroft from competitor Crown Wallpaper as export manager.

From Wikipedia’s article on Coloroll, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Timeline

  1. 1970Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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