Kirriemuir textiles firm J&D Wilkie grew its revenues by more than 30% last year as it celebrated its 150th year of operation.
The Angus-headquartered company is at the forefront of innovation in the technical textiles sector with a footprint that includes manufacturing facilities in China and India and trading offices in Japan and the USA.
Newly filed accounts for J&D Wilkie (Holding Company) Ltd show the firm’s sales increased from £25.3 million to £33.3m for the year ending June 2018.
Pre-tax profits increased from £1.9m to £2.4m during the period.
Co-managing director Jean-Christophe Granier said: “The performance illustrates our team’s hard work and laser focus on releasing the undeniable potential of our advanced textile technology in a global market.
“The focus on advantaged technology propositions has enabled us to attract new customers.”
Key markets for the company include air filtration, the military and oil and gas. The firm employs around 90 staff in Kirriemuir and 250 people globally.
Two-thirds of the group’s sales are outwith the UK. During the year £1.7m was invested in capital expenditure.
“Mostly it’s been spent on new machines to improve efficiency,” explained co-managing director Hamish Rowan.
“We’ve also made investments in our systems and our people.”
The firm has carried out extensive planning for a hard Brexit, which has included building stocks of key raw materials.
“We spent a lot of time with our management team working to ensure our supply didn’t require the border for a number of months,” added Mr Granier.
“We engaged with the bank last year and put in place a dedicated funding line to build up stocks.”
In the previous year 100% of J&D Wilkie (Holding Company) Ltd was acquired by Wilkie Technical Textiles (Holding Company) Ltd which is majority owned by the sixth generation of the Wilkie family.
rmclaren@thecourier.co.uk