100-year old manufacturer sleeps soundly after revenue hike
100 YEAR-OLD family business the John Cotton Group is sleeping soundly after a successful year.
Turnover rose to £171.9m for the year to 28 February 2016 from £160.5m the year before and it increased pre-tax profits to £14.9m from £12.7m.
Company staff numbers rose by around 100 to 1,158 and according to results, the highest paid director was paid £1.41m, just short of the £1.45m made the year before.
The Mirfield company, which has operations in East Lancashire, said its success was down to the growth of its Slumberdown and Snuggledown branded products.
However it also acknowledged that margins are under threat as a result of customer selling price pressures and the increase in key raw material prices due to the 18% devaluation of Sterling against the US dollar.
Established in 1916, the company was originally formed to recycle waste textiles generated by the booming textile industry in Yorkshire.
In 2015 it acquired new premises in a multi-million pound purchase on Low Mill Lane in Ravensthorpe to enable it to expand its UK footprint.
John Cotton, company chairman, said of its centenary: “The lifespan of companies is getting shorter and shorter, so it’s a massive achievement to have made it to 100 years, and we wouldn’t have been able to reach this huge milestone without the hard work of every one of our employees.”
