A Haworth manufacturer is putting the finishing touches to a regimental King’s Colour on its 60th anniversary next week (8 April).
Invited guests will have a unique opportunity to see the fourth-generation family business finalising the intricate embroidery of the Irish Guards regimental Colour (flag) alongside the regiment’s King’s Colour which has been selected to be slowly trooped (carried) at the King’s Birthday Parade, Trooping the Colour on the 15 June.
In 2023, military accoutrement manufacturer Wyedean Weaving was awarded the contract to manufacture the British Armed Forces’ new regimental flags ahead of King Charles III’s Coronation.
The seven-year, £5million contract to replace all British Armed Forces’ Standards and Colours (military flags) with the King’s insignia and the Tudor Crown, has helped to fuel the company’s recent investment in a £300k refurbishment to future proof its 150-year-old Grade II listed Haworth mill building.
On Monday 8 April, four generations of the Wright family will be celebrating Wyedean’s Diamond Jubilee alongside invited guests and guest of honour, the Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire, Ed Anderson CBE. The event includes a special recognition presentation to Norma Wright, Wyedean’s 99-year-old chairwoman.
Managing Director Robin Wright said: “60 years ago my parents set up shop here in Haworth with a fledgling business. Since then, Wyedean has employed over 1,000 people with many local family members working here over two and three generations.
“Sixty years on we are Haworth’s oldest employer and also one of its largest and we wanted to host a celebratory event to say thank you to our team and our customers and to showcase our recent refurbishment alongside the ceremonial regalia for His Majesty’s Forces and His horses that we create every single day. We are also offering a unique opportunity to see our team’s hand embroidery work on the regimental Colours and Standards ahead of the King’s Birthday Parade in June.”
Wyedean was founded as a manufacturer of braid and military uniform accoutrement in Haworth in 1964 by David Wright who ran the business with his father Frank Wright, a former textile machine designer who was awarded an MBE in recognition of his invention of a new yarn spinning technique called centrifugal spinning.
Wyedean’s Bridgehouse Mill was among the first water powered textile mills on the River Worth 1 and was pivotal in Haworth’s role in the industrialisation of the textile industry. Wyedean remains chaired by David’s wife Norma (99), with her son and Managing Director Robin, his wife and Sales Director Debra and daughters Business Development Director Rosie and Systems Director Susannah Walbank.
Robin added: “Our Diamond Jubilee is a very proud moment for all our family, our team and our village, whose rich heritage is a fitting backdrop to the historic and ground breaking manufacturing that happens behind our mill’s walls every day of the week.
“We couldn’t be more proud of the road we have travelled and of the exciting future ahead as we continue to bring our Yorkshire expertise to the creation of royal and military regalia which forms part of our nation’s most ancient ceremonies and traditions.”
