R.A. Irwin

The original business was a handkerchief sewing operation based in Magheralin, but the rise of paper tissues brought an end to the woven handkerchief business. By the end of the1960's the company had turned its attention to warp knitting, utilizing its stitching facilities to convert warp knitted fabrics into sheets and bedspreads which it sold to the UK and Irish retail and mail order outlets. They were branded as Broomhill Fabrics. It became difficult to get the fabrics dyed locally so in 1968 a space was rented in a vacant mill in Portadown and a modern wide width dyeing and finishing facility was set up, using high pressure dying technology. This allowed a wider and better range of colours to be marketed giving the company a technical edge in the market. This was followed by the installation in 1971 of a wide width rotary screen printer, one of the first installations of its type in the world. 1980 saw the death of Alex Irwin and control of the business passing to his 2 sons - Ian and Gordon. As the warp knitting industry fell into decline in the mid 1970's the company moved into stitch bonding. These fabrics were being printed for the bed cover and curtain market and also, significantly, for the mattress manufacturing industry. The next major event was a fire in 1985 which completely destroyed the Portadown factory. This event would have finished off many businesses, but the company had the vision to see how the mattress ticking industry was developing and how R A Irwin could provide the products their customers needed. So a large stitch bonding and printing plant was designed and installed in a custom built factory on the site specifically for that market. The 1990's saw R A Irwin grow rapidly. In 1992 a new factory was to set up to facilitate an innovative £3m non-woven line. This plant manufactured a high tenacity needle-punched fabric for the furniture and bedding trade. This became the "Raitex" division. The fabric was primarily used for spring pocketing in mattresses and linings for furniture. It also marked the first significant experiences for the company in export markets. Agents were appointed in France, Germany, Poland, Spain and Taiwan. For a while Raitex looked like it could become a runaway success; however the advent of cheaper spun-bond fabrics undercut the market for Raitex. Towards the end of the 1990's the company also invested in its first woven technology - Jacquard weaving looms. This was recognition that the arrival of air jet weaving technology and the digitisation of jacquard design systems was reducing the cost of making woven fabrics. This in turn was making such fabrics an attractive alternative to printed Stitchbond for mattress makers. Change was coming.