Anglo Recycling Technology Ltd.

Why Felt? - Simon Macaulay, Managing Director of Anglofelt:
"Felt underlay is manufactured from 100% recycled fibres. These carpet underlays are extremely durable; they feel luxurious under foot and are suitable for both domestic and heavy contract installations. Felt underlay helps the carpet resist dynamic forces and assists in making the carpet more resilient. It also aids in insulating the floor, reducing cold ingress and heat retention. Environmental issues surrounding sustainability mean felt underlays are very much environmentally friendly as they use recycled fibres that would otherwise go to landfill, thus reducing the cost of disposal whilst benefiting the environment.”

Anglo Felt was established in 1939 before the advent of the war, to manufacture felt used in the British footwear industry, which up to that time had been imported from Germany. The founder was a German Jew who came from a family which had been involved with felt manufacture for many generations. Initially, Anglo produced pressed felt, which continued to be manufactured until 1980.

Needleloom felt was introduced during the early 1940's and hair/jute needlefelt produced in 1942, probably the first company in the UK to manufacture this blend of felt.  After the war, Anglo Felt Industries diversified into many new areas using manufacturing techniques unique in the UK to produce felt for uses including the saddle trade, cartridge wads and tailoring felt for suits.

            

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The main business activity is now applying felting techniques to waste and recycled fibre to manufacture added value products. The two main processes undertaken are needle-punching and chemical bonding. The company has over 250 active customers in industries as diverse as carpet underlay to automotive to geo-textiles to horticulture.

King Macaulay bought the business in 1987 when he was made redundant in the textile industry. The company had fallen on hard times and little capital had been invested. That has been changed over the last decade with over £1 million being invested back in to improving the fabric of the building and machinery.

In 1994, the company was accredited for ISO 9002. This covered all areas of the factory. The system run by our Quality Manager, Darren Mills, has helped to improve production quality as well as giving a specification-based system to give greater consistency to products. This was updated to ISO 9001:2000 in 2003.

Simon Macaulay joined his father soon after his 65th birthday in August 1998. In February 1999 Simon purchased the share capital of the business from his father and later that year King Macaulay retired from day to day involvement in the business. In late 1999, the company acquired the stock and goodwill of The Woollen Cloth Company, a specialist wool converter. The business has now been integrated within our specialist felt division and gives us the critical mass to develop this area.  In 2000, we increased capacity by 30% by investing £350,000 in a new 4.5m wide needle-punch line. 

In December 2001, we purchased the assets of CM Kelly in Cullingworth. This enabled us to offer a felt for the retail market for the first time for many years.  Our bonded underlay sits well with the new generation of light resilient underlays on the market. In early 2003, we became the official distributor of Lantor UK's range of industrial non-wovens. With this, and the purchase of the assets of HG Supplies at the end of 2003, our merchanting business turned over £1/2m of total turnover of £1.5m in 2004.

In November 2004 we came to an agreement with Webron UK to manufacture their specialist recycled Nomex production. They felt they no longer had the expertise in house for these complicated products. In March 2006 Square Deal Felts merged with Anglo Felt. This means that we now have a craft felt and display felt presence alongside our existing engineering felt business. We are pleased to welcome the Square Deal team to Anglo to bring their expertise into our business.

Contact:
Anglo Recycling Technology Ltd.
Tong Lane
Whitworth
Rochdale
Lancs OL12 8BG

Tel: +44 (0)1706 853513
Fax: +44 (0)1706 853625
Email: info@anglofelt.com
Web: www.anglofelt.com