Camira Fabrics
Camira – A Glimpse into the Future with Peter Daly
- This article first appeared in the Bus-News magazine Issue 1 2021.
As global textile manufacturer Camira approaches its 200th anniversary of providing to the transport industry, we spoke with Peter Daly, Head of European Transport Sales, to learn about the company’s rich heritage, and the exciting plans it has for the future…
So, where did Camira’s transport textile roots begin? How did you grow to become the global organisation you are today?
Peter Daly: Our heritage stretches all the way back to 1822, when a cloth manufacturer named John Holdsworth founded a worsted spinning mill named Holdsworth in Halifax – a town in the North of England celebrated for its woollen textile heritage. Over the years, the company greatly expanded and built a renowned reputation for providing speciality cloths for transport companies, and supplying them to organisations across the world.
In the 1900s, Holdsworth solidified its expertise in the transport industry, becoming a founding member of the Moquette Manufacturers’ Association and symbolising the firm’s commitment to the iconic textile construction which remains a beloved staple in the Camira portfolio to this day. The company also began to concentrate on the export market, developing its presence across the globe and, by the 1990s, sales in North America formed approximately a fifth of the company’s turnover, in addition to significant growth being achieved in continental Europe and Australasia.
This growth was complemented by significant investments in machinery and state-of-the-art equipment, making the Holdsworth factory one of the most modern and largest weaving units of its type in the world!
After six generations in the family, the Holdsworth business was sold in 2005 for real estate development of its historic mill complex. Two years later, in 2007, Camira purchased the Holdsworth brand name and assets – including the moquette looms on which our transport textile heritage is founded – and brought the historic firm into the Camira Group, ensuring its expertise and capabilities continues to play a valuable part in the transport industry.
