Crown Paints’ Portillo Pink proves just the ticket for TV traveller

A new colour was temporarily added to the Crown Paints range when railway enthusiast Michael Portillo visited the company’s Lancashire headquarters.

Millions of TV viewers recently saw the former MP turned TV presenter, renowned for his colourful jackets, stop off at Crown Paints’ Darwen factory on his latest Great British Railway Journey, and create a customised ‘Portillo Pink’.

The series sees Mr Portillo travel around the British railway network, comparing the modern day locations to how they were once described in George Bradshaw’s Victorian guidebook.

Geraldine Huxley, customer services director who featured on the TV show, said: “Michael and the BBC production team visited our Darwen site, learning of how our rich company history has evolved from the early days of wallpaper manufacturing into becoming one of the UK’s largest and most successful paint manufacturers.

“We showed him how the company has grown and prospered since the early Victorian era, with high-tech production values allowing us to produce 385,000 litres of paint every day. “It was also great to show Michael the technological developments of colour and how we truly do make it a ‘personal’ experience.  Our research and development team showed him how a spectro-photometer analyses colour composition to enable us to mix base colours with pigments that exactly matched his vibrant jacket."