ONE of East Lancashire's oldest textile companies has taken a giant leap into cyberspace in a bid to become a major player in the global fashion arena.

Morada International Limited has opened a £2 million state-of-the art headquarters complex at Shadsworth, Blackburn.

And at its official opening, by fashion guru Jeff Banks, the company unveiled a new e-commerce sales service for its 2,500 customers that it believes is the most advanced anywhere in the world.

Morada supplies linings that are used in clothes sold by high street chains such as NEXT, Oasis and Jaeger and textiles for soft furnishings.

The Shadsworth headquarters is the hub of an international operation that has stock and support facilities in France, Turkey, Poland, China, Morocco, Eire, Finland and the Baltic States.

Chief executive Mr Taylor said Morada's new e-commerce service allowed customers to check stock availability and prices; place and track orders; view current account statements and utilise customer service facilities from any location in the world, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. "The system gives us a major competitive advantage," said Mr Taylor. "There are only six or seven major manufacturers of linings in Europe and all have basically the same products. Providing a better service for our customers will give us the edge."

Morada can trace its origins back to 1890 in Ramsbottom and, until the mid-1990s, it was part of Coats Viyella. Following a management buy-out in 1998, led by chairman Bill Laidlaw and Stuart Taylor, the company decided on a change of direction into a global sourcing and distribution company.