Eli Harrison and Adam Pye, both knotters at John Spencer (Textiles), recently completed in-depth training at Dornier in Germany, to support their transition to becoming weaving technicians, with support from UKFT’s Young Textile Technician Fund.

Adam at John Spencer Textiles

John Spencer (Textiles) is a family-owned and operated weaving mill in Lancashire. The mill is driven by a passionate team and has been operating in Burnley since 1871. But rather than being stuck in the past, the company continues to invest in technology and people to enable the production of technical fabrics alongside fine fashion fabrics, all made under the watchful eye of a team of dedicated and highly skilled weavers and textile designers.

Eli at John Spencer Textiles

Eli Harrison joined John Spencer (Textiles) in 2016 as a 17-year old Apprentice. During the past eight years he has successfully moved throughout the mill gaining a thorough grounding in all aspects of woven cloth preparation and production, as well as warehousing and quality inspection. During the last four years, he focused on more mechanical roles, firstly learning to operate the Super Vega Drawing-In Machine, becoming extremely proficient and able to run this production area. He then moved across to Knotting in 2022, with on-the-job coaching from John Spencer’s in-house team and support from Staubli.

Adam Pye joined the business in 2021 at the age of 26, having worked in other local textile mills. He was recruited into the role of Drawing-In Operative and was soon recognised as having great potential as a future technician. During his two years in Drawing-In, he continued to show an aptitude for learning and a willingness to develop himself and he became a Knotter in 2023 in order to widen his skill base.

Eli at John Spencer Textiles

Ronnie Lambert, the General Manager, has been a strong advocate of developing and promoting a young team from within. He supported and mentored Eli and Adam in their progression through the business. John Spencer’s had a very skilled and experienced Loom Technician team, however Ronnie was very aware that a couple of the more experienced would reach pensionable age in the next couple of years. With this in mind the business was keen to invest the resources to train Eli and Adam to become Weaving Technicians.

This process had started in-house during late 2023 but the Dornier course at their training centre in Lindau, Germany was invaluable in allowing the two young technicians to visit and study direct with the machinery manufacturer in a learning environment without the pressures of production.

When asked about his time on the Dornier course, Eli felt a big benefit was being able to spend focused time to really learn and understand a job without the pressures of production. He also said that being shown parts of loom was a real benefit in understanding their movement and function on the loom.

Adam said it was particularly useful to have been shown why certain faults happen and expressed his appreciation at being sent on the course at the start of his career and hopes to put the skills learnt to good use over the coming years.

Debbie Catterall, Managing Director, of John Spencer (Textiles) said that the training course provided by the equipment manufacturers was essential in ensuring the young technicians received the best learning possible. Having returned from Germany both Adam and Eli are now using what they have learned, working alongside and being supported by our experienced technicians as they continue to integrate their “classroom” training with hands-on learning in the fast-moving environment of production. The financial support offered by the UKFT Young Textile Technician Fund helped the business fund the training.

The Young Textile Technician Fund will cover 50% of the costs of in-depth training for young textile technicians, thanks to the generous support of The Worshipful Company of Weavers, The Worshipful Company of Clothworkers and The Worshipful Company of Drapers.

The Young Textile Technician Fund is now open to businesses applying to train textile technicians under the age of 35. To find out more, email katie.robinson@ukft.org

UKFT’S YOUNG TEXTILE TECHNICIAN FUND