Two of the longest established names in the fibre and fabric processing industry have merged to create a new UK-based business providing complete downstream machinery solutions to the international performance textiles, automotive and aerospace industries.
Creel manufacturer Texkimp has joined forces with Web Processing, the prepreg, coating and laminating specialist recently acquired by Texkimp's parent company Cygnet Group, to form Cygnet Tex-Web.
The new business combines over 80 years of experience designing and manufacturing engineering solutions to process fibre and fabric for uses including tyre cord, plane engines and high performance clothing.
The merger is expected to bring £50m of manufacturing projects to the UK in the next five years with over 95 per cent of solutions destined for global export. Projects previously subcontracted overseas by Web Processing will now be completed at Cygnet Tex-Web's state-of-the-art design, assembly and machinery testing facility in Northwich, Cheshire.
"Acquiring Web Processing has taken our process expertise down-line and enabled us to expand the services we can offer," says Mark Smith, commercial director of Cygnet Tex-Web, who was appointed to lead the merger following a 22-year career with leading textile machinery company Karl Mayer.
"Texkimp is a highly reputable name in the international fibre and fabric processing industry and great ambassador for British engineering and manufacturing. More than 95 per cent of the machines we manufacture are delivered overseas to some of the most prolific businesses in the world and we intend to replicate this success to drive growth across the whole of the Cygnet Tex-Web business.
"With the right design and manufacturing expertise, potential business opportunities for our prepreg, coating and laminating machinery division are considerable.
"Using our established in-house engineering capabilities, space and facilities, we plan to double this size of the business in the next three years while protecting our strength as a niche provider of bespoke engineering solutions and maintaining a flexible, partnership approach to business."
Texkimp was founded in 1974 and is the only independent creel specialist in the world, designing and manufacturing solutions used in the unwinding and tensioning of fibre. It manufactures 99 per cent of the solutions it designs in the UK and counts of 90 per cent of its business as global export.
Established in 1969, Web Processing is a specialist supplier of machinery equipment used to carry out coating, laminating and flocking processes in a range of industries including technical textiles, composites, paper, plastics, film and foil.
