Continued investment sees historic textile manufacturer weave bright future
HAINSWORTH, one of Yorkshire’s oldest companies, has been pushing ahead with its long-term investment strategy which has involved a major overhaul of the business.
Historic Pudsey-based textile manufacturer Hainsworth, founded in 1783, is probably best known for making the famous Hainsworth Guard Scarlet cloth which is worn by the Queen’s Guards outside Buckingham Palace.
In its latest set of accounts filed at Companies House for the year to December 2013, Hainsworth saw turnover rise from £9.6m to nearly £12m.
Pre-tax profits dropped from £429,000 in 2012 to £241,421 this time, which was expected and a result of the continued investment in the business.
After making a recent £2m investment replacing roofs on the 37 different building structures and rebuilding a finishing plant, Hainsworth is now working on plans to restructure the whole site.
The firm in Spring Valley Mills is moving out of the 65,000 sq ft of original building space, the buildings from 1794, and consolidating the whole business into the remaining 130,000 sq ft.
“The results are in line with expectations and reflect continued increased investment in IT and infrastructure,” Hainsworth said.
“The company continues to trade profitably in 2014.”
As well as restructuring the site, Hainsworth, which employs 135 people, is also targeting new collaborations and partnerships to help take the business forward.
“The company retains a strong reputation for performance textile and innovation in its core markets which gives it a solid foundation,” it said.
“These markets show limited growth globally and the company continues to pursue a strategy of collaberation in other markets where its technical expertise and heritage can provide real value.”
Speaking to TheBusinessDesk.com last month, managing director Tom Hainsworth, the seventh generation of the Hainsworth family, said: “We are redeveloping to support the brand and the business.
“We have an exciting future. It is a real time of change for us and it is exciting.”
Hainsworth makes 10,000 metres of cloth a week. The cloth undergoes 21 different finishing processes to get to the perfect structure.
Hainsworth has been supplying cloth to the UK Armed Forces since the Duke of Wellington faced Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
