Page 94 - History-of-flooringLR

Shaw, and the story of carpet

tile manufacturing in Scotland

In 2023 Shaw will be celebrating five years of manufacturing carpet tiles in Fast forward to the 1970s, Jute Industries changes its name to Sidlaw
Scotland for the UK, European, Middle East and Africa markets. Shaw Industries (Sidlaw is a group of hills near Dundee) and acquires a small
Industries announced the acquisition of STS (Sanquhar Tile Services) based company in the old mining village of New Cumnock that had been producing
in Sanquhar, Dumfries and Galloway on 1st February 2018. Producing carpet PVC carpet tiles since 1968.
tiles with a whole range of patterns, shapes and backing systems, the
company’s facility in Scotland now employs over 170 people and is the core Carpet tile production continued and on 15 February 1985, Sidlaw Tile
base for its EMEA customer service, design and technical teams.The Services (STS) was sold by the Sidlaw Group to Compo Industries, and
company has continued to invest millions of pounds and has ambitious plans became a wholly owned subsidiary of Heuga Ltd, which was owned by
for growth with new product developments and a circular economy approach Compo. Heuga Ltd was a business famous for flooring and were known for
in response to the market demand. inventing the carpet tile in circa 1955. STS became Sanquhar Tile Services.

Today Scotland is acknowledged as a world leader in tackling climate
change, and this continues to demand new ways of thinking, innovation and
collaboration across the supply chain. Shaw is at the heart of this, working
with bodies such as South of Scotland Enterprise as well as its 20-years plus
adherence to the Cradle-to-Cradle philosophy.

South west Scotland itself has a history of innovation. This includes a long
history of producing and exporting textiles and textile-based solutions from
this part of Scotland. Notable are the famous Sanquhar knitting patterns
developed in the 1700s, and flax and jute spinning in the late 1800s.
Tayport Spinning Company was registered on 26 February 1915. During
World War One, jute fabrics continued to be manufactured as an essential
product for the war effort. In 1965 the Tayport Spinning Company is now
majority owned by Jute Industries, an amalgamation of Dundee textile
companies dating from 1920.

94 The History of Flooring