THE founder and chairman of duvets-to-curtains firm Character World today sold his stake in the business in a deal which values the company at £20m.

Tommy Schweiger established Character World a decade ago and has run it with sons Danny and Mark.

They will continue to look after the Handforth, Cheshire-based business on a day-to-day basis following the investment by London private equity house RJD Partners.

Tommy will act as a consultant. RJD won the race after vying with several other venture capital outfits.

Character World has enjoyed rapid growth thanks to a series of lucrative deals which have seen it win licences to feature children's characters such as The Simpsons, Spiderman, Barbie, Thomas the Tank Engine, Bob the Builder and Noddy on duvet sets, curtains, sleeping bags, towels, fleece blankets, beanbags and other products.

It supplies retail and catalogue chains, including Argos, Woolworths, Debenhams and Littlewoods. Character World employs 45 staff and posted revenues of £16.5m last year.