There's a quiet revolution in British fashion and textiles, and a big slice of the action is taking place right here in Tameside.

English Fine Cottons, based in Tower Mill in Dukinfield, not only produces very classy garments and cotton sheets for niche brands and big retailers, but it spins all the cotton on site. It’s the only commercial cotton spinner in the UK and the mill is breathing new life into a British industry that used to be the envy of the world.  

Tower Mill was out of use for much of the 90s, but was used as the location for the BBC comedy drama series Making Out, starring Margi Clarke and Keith Allen. 

Since Tower Mill was re-occupied and restored in 2014 it has become a home to 175 of advanced manufacturing jobs, making not only cotton, but protective textiles and the fabric automotive parts too.

The English Fine Cottons business is also heavily promoting quality, sustainable clothing, an antidote to so-called ‘fast fashion’ which is actually proving to be not so fast after all, as lorries can’t find drivers and shopping containers aren’t unloaded at docks. That’s even before you factor in world shortages of raw materials.  

Now, the place is buzzing again. 

General manager Andy Ogden says the business is well-placed to be part of a new wave of fashion and textiles businesses as consumers look for goods that are sustainable and well made. 

“More and more consumers in our society are asking how it is that certain shops and clothes cost so little. They have a conscience and they generally are brought up to want things that haven’t been detrimental to the lives of the people who made them,’ he said. 

“They want to know where things come from and help their fellow people.

“It’s Manchester, it’s the people, it’s why we invested here.”

Members of the public can buy t-shirts and sweatshirts, as well as the same bedlinen the Queen sleeps on, direct from the company website. But the main thrust of the business is creating cotton to be made alongside fashion brands, and Andy Ogden is proud to be supporting up and coming designer labels like Joe & Co, 7Layer and Lanigan & Hulme. 

The challenge for the business now is that they just need more fashion designers and fashion labels to give them the orders so the machinists and pattern cutters can start to produce greater volumes and get better skilled in the process.

“If we don’t do it here, then no-one will,” he says.

“The team here, the spinning capability we’ve got here and the technical knowledge - it won’t come back.”

In 2015, a report by the former Rochdale MP Lorna Fitzsimons (which was partly funded by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority) made the case for bringing textiles jobs home again. It claimed £9bn of textiles were made in this country, with Greater Manchester being the biggest hub of activity - representing 11,300 jobs.

A result of that project was funding to return cotton spinning to Tameside through a programme called the Textiles Growth Programme which gave birth to a supportive and friendly relationship with the local council. 

The trend over the last 20 years has been to ‘offshore’ manufacturing, but this was to ‘reshore’ and bring jobs back to Britain again.

“Not many industrial people will say that they work hand in hand with the local authority, but we did,” said Andy.

“It was a fantastic time. They wanted us to develop and grow beyond the 140 jobs we provided for the area. We bid for grants and got them and ultimately we had a plan and we’d create skilled jobs in Tameside.” 

The cotton is grown in California and Australia, before being shipped over to Dukinfield in bales. These are then washed, rinsed, spun, then shipped off to be weaved and knitted to produce some of the finest quality cotton yarns available. 

UK-based designers can then access home-spun luxury yarns and truly claim it is made in Britain.

The company also did its bit for the NHS during the last two years, making masks for Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.

Andy added: “We were delighted to be involved in a project that helps in the fight against Covid-19. 

“But we’re also thrilled that we’re able to help bring together British manufacturers and forge a supply chain to make a product that until recently we wouldn’t have been able to make from scratch on these shores.

“When we started spinning in 2016, it was our ambition to re-establish the cotton industry in this country and it’s great to see that come to fruition during this challenging time.”

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