Textile boss plans to reopen famous Harris Tweed mill

Brian Haggas, chairman of Keighley-based Harris Tweed Scotland, is reopening the Kenneth Mackenzie mill, on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, after launching a new lightweight sports jacket, which aims to appeal to younger customers.

A handful of workers are to be employed at the mill making the new lightweight tweed, called Hamish. Last March, all but two of the staff from the mill were paid off.

Mr Haggas said: "The Kenneth Mackenzie mill has been mothballed for the best part of a year and I want to reopen the mill and get the machinery going again. I predict there will be a few teething problems, so the quicker we get going, the better."

Mr Haggas hopes the sports jacket will revive the once-popular Harris Tweed brand and make it fashionable to a new generation.

It was recently showcased at menswear tradeshows in Florence and the US, and Mr Haggas said: "We have had a very positive reaction to the new lightweight Hamish sports jacket in Europe and the US. Buyers not only loved the design of the tweed but appreciated its new lightweight feel.

"I'm keen to get going and want to be ready to start production of the Hamish tweed in the coming months – how much depends directly on sales. We are doing everything we can to stimulate sales and we are currently contacting every smart independent store in the EU, US and Canada to become stockists."

Mr Haggas bought three Harris Tweed mills from Scottish firm KM Group in 2006. Demand for the brand had declined since its heyday in the 1970s, but he believed he could bring it back to its former glory.

The fabric is protected by an Act of Parliament which ensures it must be dyed, spun and woven by hand by the islanders of Lewis, Harris, Uist and Barra, in the Outer Hebrides.

The prospect of a Yorkshire owner was met with suspicion in the islands where 110 weavers were based. This suspicion quickly turned to hostility when Mr Haggas closed two of the smaller mills, which had become bankrupt, and invested about 1m in new machinery and dye vessels for the remaining mill. He also rationalised output from 8,000 types of tweed to just four.

His reputation declined further when he temporarily ceased production altogether in March 2009 to recoup the costs of producing 75,000 jackets which he couldn't sell – a move which left most of the self-employed weavers without work.

Mr Haggas has spent 2m on new machinery and a feature film which he hopes will rejuvenate worldwide interest in Harris Tweed.

In an interview with the Yorkshire Post last year, Mr Haggas spoke of his struggle to rejuvenate the brand: "A business is a long series of things going wrong, punctuated by an occasional moment of joy, and that applies to this business and every other business. Business is tough," he said.

The company recently made a breakthrough by signing a contract with Harrods, and Mr Haggas reduced his prices in an attempt to steal a march on competitors.

A spokeswoman for Harris Tweed Scotland said the firm was adding stockists to its list all the time and recently signed a contract with Bloomingdales department store in the United States.

It had always been hoped to reopen the Kenneth Mackenzie site when there was new demand for material.

Woven by hand in the traditional way in the Western Isles of Scotland, the Hamish jacket is more fitted than the classic Harris Tweed sports jackets and is made from much finer yarn.

The history of a famous cloth

Harris Tweed was created in 1846, when Lady Dunmore asked a crofter to weave a tweed from the wool from the Isle of Harris.

Production peaked in 1970, when approximately seven million metres were produced. Output today is approximately 500,000 metres a year, although production at Harris Tweed Scotland temporarily ceased in March 2009.

The Harris Tweed brand name is protected by an Act of Parliament and the Harris Tweed Authority monitors all production on the islands on a daily basis. Every 65 metres of length of fabric is carefully checked by representatives before being stamped by hand. Tweeds average about 12 different colours of wool, which helps to give it a unique appearance.

Plans are afoot to supply the power for the Kenneth Mackenzie mill from wind farms on the Isle of Lewis.