This week I’m bringing some very sad news - that the UK’s only cotton spinning mill, English Fine Cottons, which brought cotton spinning back to Greater Manchester in 2018, has very sadly gone into administration.
In case you don’t know about the history of English Fine Cottons, it was set up by the technical textile spinners Culimeta-Saveguard, who invested £4.8m of its own money, £2m of which was a loan from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, to regenerate a former Victorian cotton mill and install new technology to create luxury yarn. A further £1m was awarded as a grant by the N Brown Textile Growth Programme.
English Fine Cottons was the start of something very exciting in UK manufacturing, and for this to have happened is tragic. The collapse into administration is caused by the parent group Culimeta-Saveguard going down, and unfortunately that has taken the cotton spinning down with it. Something needs to be done to save our only cotton spinning mill, otherwise this is history repeating itself.
So today's episode is a remastered version of a visit that I did to English Fine Cottons in 2019, along with an interview with Andy Ogden, who was the general manager at the time.
238 – How to Start a Clothing Brand for Less
237 – How to Launch a Printed Textile Business – Veronica Galbraith
236 – How to Find a UK Manufacturer
235 – Spinning a Good Yarn
234 – What is a Factory Fortnight, and Why Do You Need to Prepare for it?
233 – The One Thing You’re Probably Doing Wrong With Your Email Marketing
232 – What is a Manufacturing Agreement?
231 – 6 Lessons we Learnt From Rebuilding our Website
230 – Taking a Break
229 – Why Buying British is Key to Retaining UK Craftship
228 – How to Promote Your Business on YouTube – Linda De Ruiter
227 – The Cost of Choosing the Wrong Manufacturer
226 – Live Panel Discussion with 3 UK manufacturers
225 – Why Manufacturers Aren’t Getting Back to Your Emails
5 Steps to Finding a UK Manufacturer – Bonus Broadcast
224 – Making it Your Own; The Advantages of Running a Micro-Factory – Paul Brown
223 – Launching an Innovative New Dog Product – Rosie Macpherson
222 – Why it’s Important to Keep UK Manufacturing Alive, Julie Deane CBE
221 – 8 Tips for Selling to Retail Buyers
220 – What Do Consumers Really Think About Buying UK-Made Goods?
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