Bullitt Group secures investment for product development

Reading based Bullitt Group Ltd provides complete go-to-market solutions for global brands who are looking to extend into mobile or audio products.

Following initial success with JCB, Bullitt is now the worldwide licensee of Caterpillar Inc. producing rugged, android based, mobile phones, as well as audio devices for Ted Baker and the recently launched Ministry of Sound range.

In December 2012, BGF invested £3.5m of growth capital in the company to enable Bullitt to accelerate its portfolio of products and brands, as well as supporting the company’s expansion into more international markets. BGF holds a minority stake in the business.

Bullitt owns a commanding position in a rapidly expanding ‘rugged’ device category and is quickly emerging as a market leader in the design and manufacture of high quality, high durability mobile phones for both the consumer and industrial sectors. An example of Bullitt’s collaboration with Cat® can be seen in the following video for the Cat® B15 Smartphone, with the updated S40 and S50 handsets launched in 2015.

Bullitt operates a fully integrated model for the brands it works with, from product conception, through to distribution and marketing of the products. Its channel partners and customers include the world’s leading cellular distributors and telecoms carriers, who in turn sell Bullitt’s products to end users in 50 countries. Bullitt outsources manufacture to a highly regarded Tier 1 supply chain that includes the largest electronic design manufacturers in the industry, such as Compal in Taiwan, a Fortune 2000 company.

Bullitt has been able to pair with significant global brands, such as Cat®, is the 58th most valued brand in the world (according to Interbrand), and Ministry of Sound, the winner of IDMA ‘World’s Best Sound System’ award four years in a row, where Bullitt now produce their headphones and Bluetooth speakers.

This is testament to the unique approach and benefit Bullitt offers to extending brands into the mobile sector.

Bullitt was founded in 2009 by David Floyd, Colin Batt (both previously held senior positions in Motorola); and Richard Wharton, an experienced sales and marketing executive with a background in media and consumer electronics. Operating globally and now employing 72 people, Bullitt has recently opened larger offices in Reading, as well as presence in Shenzhen in China, and the US.