Top 40 supplier Next Level Apparel (asi/73867) has announced it is expanding into the UK through an exclusive partnership with PenCarrie, a UK-based clothing wholesale distributor. The distribution deal was a result of negotiations over a five-year period, according to Mark Seymour, CSO at Next Level Apparel.

“PenCarrie pursued us really hard, adding more components to the dialogue that led us to believe they’d be a good partner to begin in that market,” Seymour told Counselor. “We are finally in a position to work with them, partly because of our new partners Blue Point Capital and the extra resources that they provide. The timing is perfect for us to go into both Europe and the UK market in 2019.”

Seymour has been very hands on in the process, traveling to the UK and meeting with customers over the past month. In addition to increased brand exposure and economic opportunity, he says the partnership will boost opportunities in the US as well. For example, as has been the case with the company’s foray into other countries, bands that travel internationally may want to do business with Next Level Apparel after seeing its far geographical reach.

“Being in a new market makes you look back a bit and think of what you’re doing in terms of styling and colors,” Seymour said. “In the UK, they’re clearly ahead of us when it comes to sustainable product. We can learn a lot from those markets and bring that back to the US.”

Founded in 1991, PenCarrie has a portfolio of more than 90 brands and over 3,500 products, supplying customers throughout the UK and Ireland. “We’re very excited to be offering our customers a whole new range of exciting and dynamic styles,” Tony Lock, managing director at PenCarrie, said in a press release. “Next Level Apparel is very well established in the US, with success extending across Canada and Australia. Being able to offer our customers a range of high quality, original and tried and tested styles, will in turn give them the opportunity to offer their customers something new, that we firmly believe will inspire them.”

This partnership increases the Gardena, CA-based supplier’s international reach, already having distribution channels across Canada as well as Australia. Seymour says the expansion will continue as Next Level will announce its new EU partner next week. The deal will give the supplier penetration throughout most of the continent.  

“We continue to have a very strong growth outlook,” Seymour said. “We’re growing at the fastest pace our company can right now. With the opportunities provided by Blue Point and our new ventures into the EU and UK market, plus continued upside in our current markets, we’re very bullish heading into 2019 and beyond.”

With reported 2017 North American promotional product revenue of $201.2 million, Next Level Apparel ranked eighth on Counselor’s latest list of the largest suppliers in the industry. The company was recapitalized by private equity firm Blue Point Capital Partners in August.