ONE OF THE MOST FLEXIBLE WEAVING PLANTS IN EUROPE – ABILITY TO PRODUCE LENGTHS FROM 12m TO 3000m
HISTORY
Pennine Weavers Ltd was established as a Commission Weaver by our current Chairman, John Hodges, in 1969. Prior to this North Beck Mills had been home to Smith Brothers & Foster, a renowned manufacturer of wool and wool blend suitings. Smith Bros was established by John Arthur Smith in 1913, John Arthur was followed into the business by his son, Tom Smith, father in law of John.
John Arthur Smith
Keighley was home to over 56 textile mills operating at one time or another and John realised that in order for the company to succeed and maintain relevance in an increasingly competitive market, then Pennine Weavers must specialise and develop a reputation for excellence, where quality was more important than price. This strategy saw the company become known for producing the highest quality worsted fabrics for some of the world's finest brands.
John's approach to focus on weaving luxury cloth of the highest quality proved to be extremely insightful as the low to mid end weavers and manufacturers have largely disappeared from the UK.
PEOPLE
Whilst being immensely proud of having one of the most highly invested weaving plants in Europe, we recognise the real success of the business is down to the unique skills and commitment of every one of our employees. Our policy of continued training and our drive for continued improvement ensure we are preparing the next generation of skilled operatives to help maintain our position as a world leader in our field.
GARY EASTWOOD:
MANAGING DIRECTOR
Employee Engagement & Wellbeing
investing in people
We are proud to invest in people through Industry leading apprenticeship programmes.
Training of employees has long been a company value and critical strand of our investment strategies and long-term business goals. In 2023 we had four employees in training roles throughout the mill in weaving, overlooking, Quality Control/Design and Mending.
Continual training
Safety at work remains at the core of everything we do. Our First Aiders undergo full re-fresher training each year
Staff wellbeing
Four-day working week was implemented across all departments after wide engagement with all our people whilst maintaining a 96-hour week across day and night shifts.
location
We are based in West Yorkshire, the centre of high quality textile manufacturing companies. This allows us to be in close proximity to our customers and others in the textile supply chain.
our approach
Manufacturing for the luxury end of the market continues to be the core of our strategy today, but in order to achieve and maintain such a valued reputation the company cannot afford to standstill and we continually look to invest in the business to keep us at the forefront of technology and ensure our team is one of the most highly skilled workforces in the textile industry anywhere in the world.
