Bute Fabrics has become the first weaver in the UK to install a Karl Mayer Multimatic warping machine to provide it with a three-fold improvement in warping capacity and optimal flexibility in warp patterning.

In addition, the company is installing a WarpMaster automatic drawing in machine and a KnotMaster knotting machine from Groz-Beckert, as part of a £3 million investment plan embarked on in 2018 and seeing the installation of ten Picanol Optimax rapier looms, including two with jacquard capabilities, in 2019.

Situated in Rothesay on the Isle of Bute within Scotland’s Firth of Clyde, Bute Fabrics was founded in 1947 by the 5th Marquess of Bute with the sole purpose of providing employment opportunities for service people returning home from the Second World War.

It has subsequently grown into an authority in technically advanced woollen fabrics in its own collections, as well as with special projects for prestige installations ranging from durable fabrics for auditoria to bespoke woollen drapes for boutique hotels.

In addition to its in-house design team, Bute partners with British designers Tom Dixon and David Irwin.

In terms of quality, all Bute textiles go through extensive and rigorous testing in the company’s in-house laboratory and colour matching is equally as stringent.  Every piece of fabric the company has ever woven is safely archived, so that when comparing colours, only the original master is ever referred to. The fabric colours are even checked under simulated natural daylight from around the globe, as a further quality guarantee.

www.butefabrics.com