What PIL Membranes does

PIL Membranes Limited is a privately held UK specialty manufacturer, founded in 1974 and headquartered in King's Lynn, Norfolk, that develops and produces polymer and membrane systems for global B2B customers. Its technology platform spans microporous polyurethane, hydrophilic polyurethane, and PTFE bicomponent membrane formulations, with four commercial sub-brands: Porelle Membranes (waterproof/breathable membranes for apparel, footwear, and protective accessories serving military, fire, police, search & rescue, industrial, medical, and sports/leisure markets), Porelle Inserts (membrane inserts for protective gloves and hats), Permair (a microporous leather-finishing system laminated to split leather or textiles, offered in Standard, Prestige, and EN ISO 20344-compliant Protector variants for children's, safety, formal, and sports footwear plus leather goods), and Plastoprint (a 100% aromatic polyester polyurethane compressible dry offset printing blanket for thin-walled plastic containers such as stadium cups, yoghurt pots, and paint pails).

The company monetizes through direct B2B sale of membrane materials and components to worldwide footwear, apparel, leather-goods, and packaging manufacturers on ex-works terms, with prices valid for 30 days and separate export pricing for non-UK deliveries. Go-to-market is enterprise field sales supplemented by trade exhibitions (notably A+A Düsseldorf 2025 for occupational safety), the company website, and a LinkedIn presence; regional offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai (KL Technologies Hong Kong Ltd. and KL Technologies Shanghai Trading Co., Ltd.) support Asian customer coverage. Customer concentration is anchored on enterprise OEM/ODM manufacturers across seven use-case segments — military/protective apparel, safety/occupational footwear, formal footwear, children's footwear, sports footwear, container/closure printing, and leather goods — with stated scale of more than 6 million pairs of school shoes produced annually using Permair technology.

Operationally, PIL operates from a UK manufacturing base with an estimated 251–500 employees and has no disclosed parent entity, public listing, or external funding rounds. Intellectual property is anchored in four registered UK trademarks (Porelle, Porelle inserts, Permair, Plastoprint) and proprietary formulation know-how developed over more than 50 years, while revenue, segment splits, and ownership structure are not publicly disclosed.

Name

PIL Membranes

Legal name

PIL Membranes Ltd.

Website

https://pilmembranes.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1974

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

PIL Membranes Limited is a privately held UK specialty manufacturer founded in 1974 that develops polymer and membrane systems (microporous PU, hydrophilic PU, PTFE bicomponent) under the Porelle, Permair, and Plastoprint brands, supplying global footwear, protective apparel, leather-goods, and packaging manufacturers directly and through Hong Kong and Shanghai regional offices.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Membrane Manufacturing

NAICS

Fabric Coating Mills (31332), Plastics Packaging Film and Sheet (including Laminated) Manufacturing (326112)

SIC

Unsupported Plastics Film & Sheet (3081)

akta.pro primary industry

Coated, Laminated & Membrane Fabrics (CRAAAMAF)

Keywords

• Polymer membrane manufacturing
• Waterproof breathable membranes
• Leather finishing systems
• Printing blanket manufacturing
• Industrial membrane solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Norton

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Membrane Products Sales: Sale of polymer and membrane products including Porelle membranes and inserts to manufacturing companies globally. Products are sold as materials/components for further manufacturing.
2. Permair Leather Finishing: Sale of Permair leather finishing system to footwear and leather goods manufacturers. Available in standard, prestige, and protector variants.
3. Plastoprint Printing Blankets: Sale of Plastoprint dry offset printing blankets to container and closure manufacturing companies worldwide.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

PIL Membranes Limited designs and manufactures polymer membrane systems under the Porelle, Permair and Plastoprint brands, supplying waterproof breathable membranes and membrane inserts for leather finishing, technical apparel and footwear, plus offset printing blankets for the graphic-arts industry. Production is based at the company's King's Lynn facility in Norfolk, England, with regional offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai serving global industrial customers. The company combines proprietary polymer chemistry (microporous PU, hydrophilic PU, PTFE bicomponent and 100% aromatic polyester PU) with coating and lamination capabilities to deliver application-specific membrane and printing-blanket solutions to manufacturers worldwide.

Product overview

PIL Membranes Limited is a manufacturer and supplier of polymer and membrane systems operating for over 50 years, offering a diverse range of membrane solutions including microporous PU, hydrophilic PU, and PTFE bicomponent technologies. The company operates four distinct brand divisions: Porelle Membranes (waterproof breathable membranes for apparel, footwear, and accessories serving military, firefighters, industrial, medical, and sports markets), Porelle Inserts (protective membranes for gloves and hats), Permair (performance leather finishing system with Standard, Prestige, and Protector variants for children's, safety, formal, and sports footwear, as well as belts and leather goods), and Plastoprint (dry offset printing blankets for the container and closure industries printing on various plastic substrates).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Porelle: Porelle membranes are used in apparel, footwear and accessories for protection against weather elements and workplace hazards. Used in military, firefighting, police, search & rescue, industrial, medical, and sports & leisure markets.
• Porelle Inserts
• Permair
• Plastoprint

Products and services

• Porelle Membranes Waterproof breathable polymer membranes (including microporous PU, hydrophilic PU, PTFE bicomponent and 100% aromatic polyester PU variants) supplied to industrial manufacturers for integration into finished performance products such as footwear, outdoor apparel, gloves and other technical textile applications.
• Porelle Inserts Membrane insert products used by tanneries and leather-goods manufacturers in industrial leather finishing and leather processing lines.
• Permair Membrane products within PIL's portfolio targeted at leather finishing and leather-goods manufacturing applications, supplied to industrial customers worldwide.
• Plastoprint Offset printing blankets sold as consumables to commercial print and publishing operations and other graphic-arts customers for use in offset presses.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 6 million pairs of school shoes made annually using Permair technology

Named customers3 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Covestro: Large German polyurethane and polycarbonate materials supplier serving coatings, adhesives, and specialty plastics markets. Upstream incumbent supplying similar PU chemistries that PIL uses for its membranes and Plastoprint blankets.
• Toray Industries: Large Japanese diversified materials company with Entrant/Dermizax waterproof breathable membranes for apparel/footwear plus broader films, fibers, and chemicals. A broad incumbent with overlapping membrane technology but vastly larger scale across many product lines.
• 3M: Global diversified industrial conglomerate with membrane, film, and protective materials used in industrial, PPE, and consumer applications. Overlaps with PIL in protective apparel films and coatings as part of a much broader product portfolio.
• Arkema: French specialty chemicals and advanced materials company with PVDF, adhesives, and coating solutions including membrane-related chemistries. Broad incumbent with overlapping specialty materials portfolio rather than direct membrane specialization.

Direct peers

• W. L. Gore & Associates: Private US manufacturer of Gore-Tex waterproof breathable membranes and other fluoropolymer products for apparel, footwear, and industrial applications. The most recognized direct competitor to PIL's Porelle membranes in performance outerwear and footwear; comparable B2B ingredient brand business model.
• Sympatex Technologies: German manufacturer of waterproof breathable membranes (Sympatex) for apparel, footwear, gloves, and technical applications. Directly competes with PIL's Porelle in the European protective apparel and footwear membrane market with similar B2B selling motion.
• Freudenberg Performance Materials: German manufacturer of technical textiles, nonwovens, and membrane laminates for apparel, footwear, and industrial applications. Directly comparable to PIL's coating/lamination business serving footwear and protective apparel OEMs.
• Sefar Group: Swiss manufacturer of precision fabrics and membrane/filtration products for industrial applications. Comparable specialty textile/membrane manufacturer serving industrial B2B customers with similar customization-driven business model.
• Porvair Filtration Group: UK-based manufacturer of membrane and filtration products serving industrial and life science markets. Comparable size and specialty membrane manufacturing focus to PIL, with similar privately-held mid-cap profile.

Emerging players

• HeiQ Materials: Swiss specialty textile technology company producing functional finishes and membranes for performance apparel and footwear brands. Emerging player with overlapping technology focus on functional textiles, comparable in size but with stronger consumer-facing brand positioning.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pil-membranes-ltd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries2 records

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 PIL Membranes