Good news for Shetland's Weaving Industry

We visited Shetland during the Make Works Tour and spent some time with GlobalYell. It was already a brilliant facility for weave, and we're really glad to hear that they've been awarded funding which will allow them to develop into a manufacturer. We hope that Make Works will play a part in connecting designers and artists to these new production facilities.

Global Yell's press release

A boost to the textile industry in Shetland was announced this morning by the UK Government with the funding of new equipment, premises and staff for GlobalYell Ltd, a social enterprise in Yell through the Coastal Communities fund. The two year project will help GlobalYell to establish itself as a manufacturer of woven cloth and will allow the organisation to offer its services to weavers and designers who want to make shorter runs of fabric through an award of £95,000.

Andy Ross, Creative Director of GlobalYell, says “It is a very exciting opportunity and time for us. This funding represents a vote of confidence in GlobalYell, giving the charity more opportunities to work with contemporary craft and design in the islands. It is hugely significant especially in the view of recent meetings we have had with representatives from Scotland, London and as far afield as Japan, all of whom have been impressed with the quality and design of our woven products. Now we will have a chance to take up opportunities like these.”

Coastal Communities funding will provide one new job in Yell in 2015 as well as supporting the existing Creative Director post at GlobalYell as the organisation moves on with its project. It will allow GlobalYell to purchase a new production loom from the United States to complement the existing looms at the studio, and to buy new equipment to go with the loom, and support further employment opportunities in the future. It will also give GlobalYell an opportunity to attend trade fairs to show its fabrics. Ross says, “Our aim is to support not only our own manufacture of cloth to our designs but also to work with others who want to design and make their own fabrics.

This equipment will allow us to produce short lengths of fabric for designers and artists, something that is needed in the UK. The Shetland textile industry is an important part of the economy of the islands and now is a good time to be expanding and looking to the future. We are looking forward to growing and to the challenges and opportunities that this project will bring.”

To view Global Yell's full listing on Make Works click here