A MAJOR East Lancashire manufacturer has celebrated its 20th anniversary this week

Lancashire Textiles, based in Cameron Mill on Howsin Street, Burnley, was first founded on June 18 2001 by Joe McBride who had originally set up the business to manufacture bedding textiles.

In the years since, the company has expanded to sell bedding, home furnishings and garden furniture cushions.

Mr McBride said: “I am delighted to celebrate this very special anniversary with all the Lancashire Textiles team who make the company such a special place.

"I feel enormously privileged to have been able to grow and develop the company so that it is now one of the leading bedding manufacturers in the UK.

"Looking back, it’s amazing to think that we started out with five people but now we employ 40."

The Cameron Mill site has been a manufacturing site for over 100 years.

It was built onto the adjacent Livingstone Mill during the second industrial revolution, at the end of the 19th century, and was named in tribute to explorer Verney Cameron and since 1909 has been a working textile mill almost continuously.

The site's latest occupant, Lancashire Textiles, took over the site from stoneware firm Pendelfin.

Having reached the twenty year milestone, Mr McBride has ambitious plans for Lancashire Textiles' future.

These include proposals to expand the company's product range, utilizing new machinery and improving skills within the factory.

Mr McBride said: "Over the last twenty years we have manufactured an increasing variety of bedding products, and I still get a thrill every time I walk into the machine room.

"We have invested a great deal in manufacturing equipment but also the infrastructure around it, including a new inventory control system, to ensure we can get the finished product out to customers as quickly as possible.

"Here’s to the next twenty years of manufacturing!"