Spencer Wright retains Chairmanship of Tufting Machine

19 Sep '07

3 min read

Later Mr Wright took over a local US bank, and as his investments increased was recognised as one of the leading figures in the business community across the Southern United States.

Textile-related acquisitions over the years have also included UK knitting machine maker Camber International and various other smaller textile firms.

Mr Wright remains as chairman, president and Chief Executive Officer of Spencer Wright Industries, of which TMC Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary.

Geoff Hemingway was appointed MD of Cobble Blackburn in 1997, following several years' experience in the aerospace and machine tool sectors.

He has led Cobble through a challenging period, playing a key role in expanding the company's global influence into the Middle and Far East, and setting up Cobble CTS as a joint-venture operation in Shanghai to serve the burgeoning Chinese market. He also served for three years as chairman of the British Textile Machinery Association.

A major commercial move saw Cobble acquire the Crabtree Axminster machinery business in 2000, and technical progress in tufting has accelerated with the spread of servo- and microprocessor-based controls and the refinement of patterning techniques.

Basic research, in collaboration with UK universities, has produced significant benefits in the design of gauge parts and other key components for tufting.

Cobble is the biggest name in UK textile machinery manufacturing, and with its US parent company is one of three major players in tufting machinery worldwide.

Says Mr Hemingway: “We are committed to continuing to push the technical and commercial boundaries of both tufting and weaving, and we are eagerly looking ahead to participating in the radical developments we expect to see in the carpet industry in the next decade.”

Cobble Blackburn Ltd

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