RON JOHNSON DESIGNS LTD

What RON JOHNSON DESIGNS LTD does

Ron Johnson Designs Ltd is a UK private limited company founded in 1983 by Ron Johnson and Doreen Johnson, operating as a family-owned micro-business from Crossgates, Llandrindod Wells, Mid-Wales. The firm produces screen-printed textile goods — principally tea towels, aprons, and bags — featuring regional imagery themed around Wales and the Welsh Marches. Its core technology combines traditional silk-screen printing with newer digital and full-colour screen printing capability, and the founder personally converts client-supplied photographs and videos into printable artwork under copyright held by the firm.

The business sells directly to customers on a quote-based model, with a stated minimum order of 100 units for specially commissioned designs and a 3-year exclusivity grant to clients commissioning original artwork. Distribution appears to be direct, targeting gift shops, local community organisations, and individual consumers across Wales and bordering parts of England. There is no disclosed wholesale or third-party retail channel beyond direct engagement, and no AI/ML, software platform, or recurring revenue component is described.

The firm also offers a stock design gallery that allows buyers to purchase pre-existing artwork without commissioning bespoke work, broadening the addressable base beyond fully custom orders. No funding rounds, acquisitions, leadership changes, or material expansion events are evidenced in the available data; the business operates as a stable, owner-operated regional printer with a long but narrowly-scoped operating history.

Name

RON JOHNSON DESIGNS LTD

Legal name

RON JOHNSON DESIGNS LIMITED

Website

https://ronjohnsondesigns.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1983

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Ron Johnson Designs Ltd is a family-owned Mid-Wales textile printing firm, founded in 1983, producing screen-printed tea towels, aprons, and bags featuring regional Welsh imagery for gift shops and individual customers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Llandrindod Wells

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Custom design product sales: Revenue generated from selling custom-designed tea towels, aprons, and bags. Customers can commission new designs or select from existing special designs. Minimum order of 100 units for special designs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Ron Johnson Designs Ltd designs, screen prints, and sells custom and stock textile products, principally tea towels, aprons, and bags, featuring original Welsh and English area-themed artwork. Production uses traditional single-colour silk screen printing on 100% cotton as well as full-colour digital screen printing, and customers can commission bespoke designs from photos or drawings or choose from a library of hundreds of existing area-specific designs. Special designs are sold on a minimum 100-unit order basis with 3-year territorial copyright protection.

Product overview

Ron Johnson Designs Ltd is a traditional textile printing company that has operated since 1983, specializing in custom-printed products including traditionally screen printed tea towels (single colour on cotton), digital screen printed full colour tea towels, aprons, and bags. The company operates a two-tier product model: Special Designs (custom, area-exclusive designs with minimum 100-unit orders, protected from resale for three years) and Stock Designs (pre-existing designs available for general purchase). The company is based in Mid-Wales and draws its artistic inspiration from Welsh and English landscapes and towns.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Traditional Screen Printed Tea Towels 100% cotton tea towels printed using traditional silk screen printing in a single colour (Blue, Green, Brown, Black, or Burgundy) on White or Cream cotton, featuring original Welsh and English area-themed designs by Ron Johnson. Sold to gift shops, retailers, organisations and individuals.
• Full Colour Tea Towels 100% cotton tea towels produced using digital screen printing, allowing full-colour reproduction of original artwork, customer-supplied photos or drawings, and photographic images transformed into digital art, watercolour, painting or cartoon styles.
• Special Designs (Custom Exclusive Designs) Bespoke area-exclusive designs commissioned by customers and printed on tea towels, aprons or bags. Hundreds of existing Special Designs cover the whole of Wales and parts of England (mainly the Welsh Marches), each protected by 3-year territorial copyright exclusivity after the last purchase, with a minimum order of 100 units.
• Custom Printed Aprons Custom-printed aprons produced as part of the Special Designs service, available through commission or selection from existing area-specific designs. Produced in partnership with the company's seamstress services.
• Custom Printed Bags Custom-printed bags produced as part of the Special Designs service, available through commission or selection from existing area-specific designs. Produced in partnership with the company's seamstress services.
• Stock Design Gallery Pre-existing collection of Welsh and English-themed illustrations by Ron Johnson available for purchase without exclusivity restrictions, suitable for buyers who do not require area-specific territorial protection.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Seamstress ServicesminorOthersSeamstress Services is used by Ron Johnson Designs to produce new custom designs. This appears to be a production partner for textile manufacturing of custom design products.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Direct peers

• Make: UK-based personalised and bespoke tea towels producer accepting custom designs and small batches. Closely comparable in custom-design, screen-printed textile product format and gift-shop distribution.
• Ulster Weavers: Long-established UK-based tea towel manufacturer with a large catalogue of themed and licensed designs. Directly comparable in product format (printed kitchen textiles) and retail gift-shop distribution, though at significantly greater scale.
• Sophie Allport: UK design-led home textile brand producing tea towels, aprons, and tableware with original British countryside and wildlife themes. Comparable in design-led, region-inspired product strategy and direct-to-consumer retail model.
• Wessex UK: UK tea towel and kitchen textile producer with a wide catalogue of regional and themed designs. Comparable in product format, regional UK positioning, and B2B gift-shop distribution.
• Lady Clare: UK maker of printed tea towels and kitchen textiles featuring illustrated and themed designs. Overlaps with RJD on product category, design-led positioning, and UK gift-shop distribution.
• Contrado: UK custom textile printing business offering on-demand printing of customer designs onto fabric and finished goods. Comparable in the custom screen/digital print-on-textile capability and B2B customisation workflow.

Regional players

• Ardmore Design: South African design-led brand producing decorative textiles and ceramics featuring local landmarks and cultural imagery. Comparable in the artist-driven, regional-landmark gift product strategy, though operating in a different geography.

Broad incumbents

• Toast: UK lifestyle and home textile brand with tea towels, aprons, and printed kitchen linens. Comparable in design-led textile products and UK retail/gift positioning, but operates across a broader lifestyle category with greater scale.
• Emma Bridgewater: Established UK heritage brand known for pottery but with a substantial textiles range including tea towels. Comparable in artist-led British design brand positioning and premium gift-shop distribution, though at much larger scale and broader product portfolio.
• Halcyon Days: UK heritage gift brand producing decorative and commemorative items including printed textiles. Comparable in the artist-driven, regionally inspired UK gift-shop positioning, though broader in product scope and distribution.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 RON JOHNSON DESIGNS LTD