Member Article

Historic textile mill Hainsworth invests in the future

One of Britain’s most historic textile mills is investing more than £1 million as it puts in place a dynamic future for the 229-year-old business.

Hainsworth has created three divisions within the company - Design, Performance and Protection - overseen by Managing Director Tom Hainsworth and Sales and Marketing Director Diane Simpson.

Colin Whittaker has been recruited as Business Manager for Performance and Protection, while Michael Booth joins as Business Manager for Design.

Adam Hainsworth takes up a new position as Finance Director and Rachel Hainsworth becomes Quality Director. Graham Hutton continues as Manufacturing Director responsible for leading the production teams. Rachel’s son, Robert Taylor, joins the company for a year-long induction marking the introduction of the 8th generation of famiy into the business.

Along with a series of other new appointments, the Yorkshire company’s IT has been significantly upgraded in order to improve the supply chain and provide the platform for long-term customer relationships.

About £400,000 has been pumped into improving machinery at the mill in Pudsey, near Leeds, while improvements are also being made to the layout of some of the Hainsworth office space.

Tom Hainsworth said: ‘The new look Hainsworth is the culmination of more than a year’s planning and implementation and creates a business which we believe is well placed to make the most of our opportunities in the UK and globally.

’Each of the new divisions is led by a dedicated business manager supported by specialist teams of sales, marketing and customer service professionals.

’Everyone within the business will be working in the knowledge that we have the best possible production machinery and IT platform to be able to deliver a high quality, super efficient and seamless service to all of our customers, suppliers and other partners.

’We are an incredibly diverse business with our longstanding work in protective wear for the emergency services, uniforms for the military, snooker and pool cloth for the leisure sector complemented by the launch of our first ever consumer lifestyle brand Scarlet & Argent and increasing demand for our fabrics within the fashion industry.

‘In addition, we are developing and breaking into a number of exciting export markets around the globe including China, Australasia, Europe and the United States.’

Hainsworth, which holds a Royal Warrant, emplys 164 people at its 250,000 sq ft mill.

The company, founded in 1783, is probably best known for manufacturing the famous Hainsworth Guard Scarlet cloth which is worn by the Queen’s Guards outside Buckingham Palace. Hainsworth has been supplying cloth to the UK Armed Forces since the Duke of Wellington faced Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by mason media .