Star Tissue

Name

Star Tissue

Legal name

Star Tissue UK (Operating as WEPA Professional UK)

Website

https://startissueuk.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Star Tissue is a UK-based converter and manufacturer of hygiene paper products (tissue, towels, wiper and centrefeed rolls) serving away-from-home washrooms, professional cleaning, healthcare, food service, and industrial markets; since November 2024 it operates as WEPA Professional UK following acquisition by WEPA Group.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Hygiene Paper Products Manufacturing

NAICS

Sanitary Paper Product Manufacturing (322291)

SIC

Papers & Allied Products (2600)

akta.pro primary industry

Professional Laundry & Hygiene Paper Systems (Rolls, Refills, Managed Programs) (IMAMAGAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Tissue Converting & Private Label Manufacturing (IMAMAGAH), Recycled Tissue & Hygiene Products (IMAMAKAF), Specialty Household Paper (Recycled, Bamboo, Premium/Ultra-soft) (CRAJAFAJ)

Keywords

• Tissue manufacturing
• Hygiene paper products
• Washroom hygiene supplies
• Industrial cleaning wipers
• Professional paper converting

Headquarters

HQ city

Blackburn

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Hygiene Paper Products Manufacturing: Manufacturing and conversion of hygiene paper products including centrefeed, toilet tissue, hand towels, hygiene/couch rolls, wiper rolls, and kitchen towels for professional and industrial markets.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Star Tissue manufactures and converts hygiene paper products including centrefeed rolls, toilet tissue, hand towels, hygiene/couch rolls, wiper rolls, and kitchen towels for professional and industrial away-from-home markets. The company sells these under brands such as Sirius Professional, Sirius Advanced, Sirius Ecoroll, Bliss, kleenall, and Softelle to professional cleaning, washroom, healthcare, food service, and industrial customers across the UK.

Product overview

Star Tissue is a manufacturer of hygiene paper products operating as part of WEPA Professional UK since 2024. The company offers a diversified portfolio of tissue and paper products organized across two main categories: (1) Professional brands including Sirius Professional, Sirius Advanced, and Sirius Ecoroll serving the away-from-home, healthcare, food service, and industrial markets, and (2) Consumer-oriented brands including Bliss (luxury quilted toilet tissue with scents), Softelle (2-ply luxury toilet tissue), and kleenall (multi-purpose cleaning rolls). The product line spans six core product types: centrefeed rolls, toilet tissue, hand towels, hygiene/couch rolls, wiper rolls, and kitchen towels. The company operates manufacturing facilities with capacity to convert 30,000 tonnes of tissue per annum and 150,000 sq ft of warehousing space.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sirius Professional: Premium grades of paper using the latest production technology.
• Sirius Advanced
• Sirius Ecoroll
• Bliss
• kleenall
• Softelle

Products and services

• Sirius Professional Professional-grade tissue paper product line within Star Tissue's brand portfolio, targeted at away-from-home and professional cleaning markets in the UK.
• Sirius Advanced Premium tier of the Sirius professional tissue brand portfolio, offering higher-specification tissue paper products for demanding professional washroom and hygiene applications.
• Sirius Ecoroll Ecoroll variant within the Sirius brand family, positioned as an environmentally-focused tissue paper product offering for professional buyers.
• Bliss One of Star Tissue's professional hygiene paper product brands for the UK away-from-home and commercial washroom market.
• kleenall Professional cleaning-focused tissue paper brand within Star Tissue's portfolio, serving contract cleaners and janitorial supply channels.
• Softelle Tissue paper product brand in Star Tissue's range, supplied into UK professional and commercial hygiene markets.
• Centrefeed Rolls Centrefeed paper rolls manufactured and converted by Star Tissue for professional washrooms, kitchens, and cleaning stations in away-from-home environments.
• Toilet Tissue Converted toilet tissue products supplied by Star Tissue to professional washrooms and commercial facilities across the UK.
• Hand Towels Hand towel paper products manufactured and converted by Star Tissue for professional hand-drying applications in commercial washrooms.
• Hygiene/Couch Rolls Hygiene and couch roll paper products manufactured by Star Tissue for healthcare, clinical, and professional hygiene applications.
• Wiper Rolls Industrial and professional wiper roll products manufactured by Star Tissue for heavy-duty cleaning, wiping, and industrial maintenance applications.
• Kitchen Towels Kitchen towel paper products manufactured by Star Tissue for professional food service, hospitality, and commercial kitchen environments.

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• WEPA Group: Parent company of Star Tissue (now WEPA Professional UK) and one of Europe's largest hygiene paper manufacturers. Directly comparable in product portfolio (AFH tissue, hygiene, recycled grades) and converting capacity, and now part of the same corporate group as Star Tissue.
• Sofidel Group: Italian-headquartered global tissue manufacturer with strong presence in European AFH channels. Directly comparable as a converting-led tissue peer competing for the same away-from-home accounts across similar product categories.
• Lucart Group: Italian tissue and AFH-focused manufacturer serving European away-from-home markets with a similar product mix (centrefeed, toilet tissue, hand towels, recycled grades). Comparable mid-sized European peer.
• Cascades Tissue Group: North American and European AFH-focused tissue converter with a similar product strategy (away-from-home washroom, recycled and specialty grades). Comparable mid-market tissue peer with a conversion-led model.
• Metsä Tissue: Finnish/Nordic tissue manufacturer with strong AFH and consumer tissue business, including the Katrin brand. Directly comparable as a European converting-and-manufacturing peer in away-from-home channels.

Broad incumbents

• Essity (Tork): Global hygiene and tissue giant with the Tork brand as the dominant AFH offering. Overlaps broadly with Star Tissue's product categories and target customers but operates at a much larger global scale and portfolio breadth.
• Kimberly-Clark Professional: Division of Kimberly-Clark serving away-from-home and workplace washroom markets with Kleenex, Scott and WypAll brands. Same core customers (facilities, food service, healthcare) and overlapping product set (tissue, towels, wipers).

Regional players

• Northwood Hygiene: UK tissue converter focused on away-from-home washroom and hygiene products (North Shore brand). Closest UK mid-market peer to Star Tissue with directly overlapping product portfolio and customer base.
• Sustainable Fibre Technologies / Atlas Hygiene: UK-based hygiene paper distributor converting into AFH solutions. Comparable regional specialist serving similar British customers in away-from-home markets.
• Vinda International: Asian tissue major (Tork-equivalent brand, Tempo, etc.) with growing European exposure. Comparable as a converting-led AFH peer, though geographically concentrated in Asia-Pacific.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Star Tissue