News and Views

摘要

In December 2006 clothing manufacturer the John Haggas Group of Keighley, Yorkshire bought the KM Group and a smaller tweed firm Parkend in the Western Isles. The KM Group produces 95% of Harris Tweed and has been on the market for four years. Hundreds of people are employed in the tweed industry. The KM Group recently shut one of its two mills with all of the work being transferred to Stornoway on Lewis. There has been interest in the KM Group since 2002, when owner Derek Murray said he was open to offers. The new owners have a long history in the textile industry and dealt mainly in worsteds, Some years ago they acquired Brook Taverner Ltd, a company which had been manufacturing Harris Tweed jackets for many years and it was through this connection that they came to be interested in the KM Group. Brian Haggas, Managing Director, has stated that it is his intention to maintain and develop the existing business and to concentrate on the high end of the market where Harris Tweed is strong.