Rochdale-based TBA Textiles to create 16 jobs with £700k investment

North West yarn manufacturer TBA Textiles has revealed plans create jobs and plough thousands into new tech and equipment.

The Rochdale-based business will invest £700k with the support of a £150k grant from the N Brown Textiles Growth Programme, which is delivered by the Business Growth Hub and funded by the Regional Growth Fund.

The move marks a return to British roots for Rochdale-based TBA, which has outsourced part of its production to the Netherlands in recent years.

The company will create a further 16 jobs and two apprenticeship positions with its latest investment plans, having already created 18 jobs earlier this year after investing £110k in its Greater Manchester operations.

The general manager at TBA Textiles, Mark Lineker, said: “The help and support offered by the N Brown Textiles Growth Programme in the form of a second grant of £150k is greatly appreciated, and goes a long way to assist in our plans to invest around £700k into our own manufacturing plant in Rochdale over the next two years.

“This significant investment, will in turn, secure our position at the forefront of development and manufacture of high performance technical textiles, and, additionally, allows us to invest in our local and wider community in the form of new job opportunities and apprenticeships.”

Set up by the Manchester Growth Company, the N Brown Textiles Growth Programme has supported 237 businesses since its launch in 2014, safeguarding almost 3,500 jobs and securing £87m in private sector investment through £20m of grant support.

The director of the N Brown Textiles Growth Programme, Lorna Fitzsimons, commented: “Although early days after the BREXIT vote, the Textile industry is still showing the confidence to invest which is a healthy indicator that the sector is still growing.

“This is helped, in part, by government funding, and a strategy to invest in this industry which is so important to Greater Manchester.”

The programme’s chair, Paul Short, said: “Following the most extensive research into supply and demand of UK textiles manufacturing in recent decades we have created the first ever textiles grant growth programme in British history, backed by the Regional Growth Fund.

“The programme, established in 2014, is led by N Brown and the private sector on behalf of the UK textile industry. It has unleashed significant private sector investment and job creation, addressing significant growth opportunities and market failures facing the industry.”

He added: “This invaluable work will come to an end in May 2017 but will leave the textiles industry stronger and fully committed to the future of manufacturing in the UK”.

Founded over 140 years ago, TBA Textiles supplies technical textiles to businesses across more than 100 countries, in sectors such as construction, transportation and marine.