Golden opportunity for the go-ahead company with its eye on Olympics

FROM footballers to royalty, Joseph H Clissold has supplied woven suit cloth for some of the world's most famous names.

Customers include David Beckham, Joanna Lumley and Prince Charles, while Barack Obama received some cloth to make a suit during his US presidency campaign.

The Bradford-based company, which employs 33 staff, also supplies fabric to high street chains Next, LK Bennett and Jaeger.

Next recently won a 10m sponsorship deal to design outfits for the opening and closing ceremonies for Team GB and Paralympics GB for the London 2012 Olympics – which could be good news for Clissold.

Ruth Crawshaw Sykes, sales manager and designer, said: "We've got to submit our technical cloths to Next. We're hoping that they are going to use a British cloth for the British team."

It's not the first time Clissold has designed fabric for a major sporting event. In 2002, it made the cloth for the official England suit worn by the squad at the World Cup.

In 2004, it created a special design with the words "go for gold" woven into the stripe for the British team's official suits for the Olympic Games in Athens.

However, the last 18 months have not been easy for the company, which has seen many other textile firms go to the wall during the recession.

In 2009, its turnover fell to 8.1m from 9.6m the previous year.

Lisa Cooper, managing director, said: "We sell all over the world and every market has been hit by the recession. We had to look at our costs and make a handful of people redundant but, hopefully, that was a one-off."

One of the main challenges facing companies like Clissold is the rising cost of wool, which is a large part of its product. Clissold has also had to re-position itself at the top end of the market in the face of tough competition from countries like China, which has been driving down costs.

Mrs Cooper said: "We've got a whole design and pattern-weaving team here so we can be that little bit different and we can charge a little bit more for the quality of the service."

Clissold used to make 14,000-16,000 pieces of cloth a year but it now produces 10,000 and has raised its prices.

Sales in the UK make up half of Clissold's orders now, although back in 1990 almost everything it sold was exported.

Yarn is bought from western Europe, although the company is looking at buying it from India to save costs, and the firm works with commission weaving companies, C&J Antich at Huddersfield, and Pennine Weavers, at Keighley.

In 2007, the firm was acquired by Holland & Sherry, part of the Tom James Group. Mrs Cooper believes that being part of a larger group has helped it to withstand the economic turmoil.

"We haven't had to fight on our own and survive under really tough conditions. We've had a group that is profitable behind us," she said.

"Things might have been different if we hadn't done what we did in 2007."

She added: "We're on the back end of the tsunami and it could be up to another 12 months before we see the real upturn. We've got to make sure the world knows we're still here; we've been here for 100 years and we intend to still be here in another 100."

As well as developing further its core business, providing material for men's suits and women's clothing, the firm has a plan to move into interiors.

Mrs Cooper said: "We are doing some initial investigation work.

"We've already done a few samples and we're talking to

a UK company. It's another area we've been looking at because the fabric can be made through the same weaving machines."

Constant re-invention and innovation is at the heart of Clissold's success.

In the last 30 years, it has produced 4,000 different cloth designs, including an organic linen, a natural wool cloth which eliminates the dyeing process, and suit cloth with a stain- and water-resistant finish.

Mrs Crawshaw Sykes said: "The secret to longevity is definitely about knowing your customer and re-inventing yourself.

"You've got to move with the times. We still have the basic model of our business but we use it to our advantage so that people can buy a quality product that is made in Yorkshire."

Clissold facts

John Henry Clissold opened his woollen manufacturing business at Cleckheaton, near Bradford, in 1910.

In 1976, the firm, which by then had moved its factory to Otley Road, in Bradford, underwent a management buyout, led by managing director Adrian Berry.

The company was sold to Parkland Group in 1995 and bought back by the management team in 2000.

It was sold to Holland & Sherry Group, part of US-based Tom James Group, in 2007.

The Clissold group business is worldwide with major customers in Latin America, US, Canada, UK and Europe, the Middle East, South-East Asia, China, Korea and Japan.