"The weather for once this summer was extremely kind and it was a wonderful way to celebrate the quarter century of UK business," said md Karen Burrows.

Madeira UK began in 1983 in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, in the home of the original md and company secretary, Ian and Sara MacPherson, before moving to premises in Boroughbridge. From Boroughbridge, Madeira UK moved to premises in Thirsk in 1988, then in 2004 to the current building close to Ripon, North Yorkshire.

Madeira UK was the first subsidiary of Madeira, which itself was founded almost 90 years ago in Freiburg, in the Black Forest of southern Germany, by the grandfather of twins Ulrich and Michael Schmidt, the current owners.

There are now 16 Madeira companies, plus many agents and distributors, and the group covers all major manufacturing areas of the world.

Threads are manufactured at the group's head office in Freiburg, Germany and supplied into two main markets: industry and retail handicraft shops. Madeira UK also supplies all embroidery accessories, such as backings, felt, needles, scissors and sprays.

Burrows takes a look back at how the industry has changed over the past 25 years: "The industry blossomed from the 80s into the 90s along with technology for the multihead embroidery machines," she says. "There was a huge amount of manufacturing in the UK, for fashion, homewares, schoolwear, corporatewear, sportswear, even footwear, which people coming into the embroidery industry today will no longer see in any quantity in the UK. In those days, embroidery went alongside the manufacturing, either with commissioned embroiderers or manufacturers with their own machines, but there was plenty of work."

She continues: "However, as more and more brands such as Marks & Spencer, NEXT, Umbro and Nike took production overseas, the embroiderers had to adapt. Some closed, others simply reduced the number and/or size of their multihead machines. Today some larger embroidery companies are still thriving but there are many more smaller ones in the UK today than ever before." 

Burrows also notes that the majority of embroideries today are produced on ready-made garments or goods instead of panels, sleeves or pockets. However, increased demand for promotional garments, hats, etc along with corporate identity and safety wear assisted these transitions, she says.

Another change has been that in technology, says Burrows. "When Madeira UK began in 1983 documents were either hand written or done on a typewriter and stock control was through a manual card management system," she recalls, adding: "I had sleepless nights before our computerisation as didn't believe a computer could possibly be more efficient!"

 Today, Madeira UK can boast that it was the first company to obtain the valuable CLASS I OEKO-TEX Certification for its embroidery threads, which certifies them as safe to use even for baby items. "We did this long before it was fashionable and have always maintained a strict environmental policy," explains Burrows. "We achieved ISO 9001 almost 10 years ago, which we have sustained, and many of our staff have over 10 years' experience with Madeira. All of this, combined with the high quality threads and accessories, means Madeira is well placed to continue its global brand leading supplies."

Burrows continues: "With Madeira, manufacturers, designers, technologists, digitisers and embroiderers discover not just threads and ancillaries for embroidery and decorative stitching but solutions and ideas to ensure their creations stand out from the crowd and of course all Madeira's threads work beautifully and at high speed on all types of embroidery machines."

She adds: "Madeira UK is proud to celebrate its 25th year of supplying the highest quality and largest range of embroidery threads and accessories and would like to take this opportunity to thank its staff, suppliers and customers for their loyal support and looks forward to the next quarter century!" 

http://www.madeira.co.uk/

info@madeira.co.uk

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