From the Sector

In a strategic move designed to align a long-term vision, RTS Textiles Ltd (RTS) announced that all operations and joint venture partners are united as the RTS Textiles Group Ltd (RTS Group). This newly formed global powerhouse in the workwear and protective textiles markets will be led by RTS, with minority shareholdings held by TMG – Acabamentos Têxteis S.A. (TMG) and Sapphire Textile Mills Limited (STM).

Effective 24th March 2025, this merger marks the next step in a partnership that has developed over years of collaboration between RTS, TMG and STM. Initially starting as supply chain partners, in 2017 TMG and RTS entered into a joint venture as MGC in Portugal, and in 2021 STM and RTS entered into a strategic partnership under CTI in Asia. This new integrated strategic merger will further enhance the combined strength of all three companies offering greater innovation and operational efficiency, positioning RTS Textiles Group as a leading force in the market.

The group will encompass RTS' wholly owned brands and operations, including Carrington Textiles, Pincroft and Alltex, as well as full ownership of CTI, MGC and Melchior. The current management team at RTS will continue to lead the new entity, ensuring continuity and maintaining strong customer relationships.

Leveraging Expertise and Resources
The merger brings together the unique strengths of each organisation: RTS, known for high-performance flame-retardant (FR) fabrics for the PPE sector and rotary screen-printed fabrics for the military market, TMG - experts in weaving, dyeing and finishing high-quality fabrics, serving a wide variety of applications in the workwear sector and STM, specialised in vertical integration, with a focus on spinning, weaving, dyeing and finishing workwear textiles.

As a leading company in workwear, flame retardant and defence and security fabrics, Carrington Textiles announced their commitment to sustainability by pledging exclusive support for the Better Cotton initiative with all our products containing cotton.

The announcement was made on the occasion of World Cotton Day on 7th October 2024, an ideal opportunity to highlight the commitment to developing workwear fabrics that not only offer high levels of quality and performance, but also support the production of responsibly sourced cotton globally.

Better Cotton is an initiative that promotes sustainable cotton farming practices to improve the environment and the livelihoods of farmers while ensuring high-quality cotton for consumers.
In 2019-2020, Better Cotton licensed over 2.4 million farmers from 23 countries across five continents. Together, these farmers produced 23% of the world’s cotton.

Better Cotton is sourced via a chain of custody model called mass balance. This means that Better Cotton is not physically traceable to end products, however, Better Cotton Farmers benefit from the demand for Better Cotton in equivalent volumes to those sourced.

When customers buy any of Carrington Textiles fabrics containing cotton, Better Cotton Credits or BCCUs are generated. These BCCUs can be claimed by a registered company directly on the Better Cotton Platform and used to communicate the responsibly source nature of the fabric’s cotton by using hang tags, labels and other marketing materials.

Neil Davey, Carrington Textiles' Managing Director, announced this commitment to sustainability reflecting the company's dedication to reducing its environmental footprint and providing customers with responsibly sourced materials.

Neil stated, "With 99% of fabrics from our FR, workwear and defence ranges containing cotton, this is a huge step towards our sustainability efforts, all of which we are proud to cover in our latest Sustainability Report. This initiative is expected to have a lasting positive impact on our products and the planet."

The Danish Ministry of Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisation (DALO) Industry Days event is scheduled to take place from 23^rd to 24^th August in Denmark. Carrington Textiles and their main manufacturing facility in the UK, Pincroft, will showcase their latest innovations in military textiles.

Carrington Textiles - after recently announcing the launch of the new stretch military ripstop fabric, Spartan HT Flex Lite, and strategically appointing the new Head of Defence and Security Fabrics -  at the event represents the commercial focus on building on an over 90 years of heritage of manufacturing military fabrics.

Likewise, Pincroft’s latest technology in non-skin contact vector protection for defence textiles and the recent involvement in printing the new Dutch Ministry of Defence’s camouflage pattern as part of their army’s uniform programme, are just a few of the textile services that will be presented at the event.

Carrington will im Mittleren Osten wachsen und ist in den Vereinigten Arabischen Emiraten ein Joint Venture eingegangen. Ab sofort wird Carrington Textiles Middle East die hohe Nachfrage der Region an leichten, komfortablen Flammschutz- und Berufskleidungsgeweben direkt ab Lager Sharjah nahe Dubai erfüllen.

Carrington hat im Nahen Osten einen hohen Bekanntheitsgrad, denn die Gewebelinien des Unternehmens für den Verteidigungssektor werden über langfristige Verträge an die Royal Oman Police oder der Armee von Bahrain geliefert. Darüber hinaus hat die Region einen großen Bedarf an Geweben, die den Beschäftigten in der Versorgungsbranche, der Öl- und Gasindustrie hohen Komfort und sicheren Schutz bieten.

Langlebige Gewebe für die Industrien der Golfregion
Um die Nachfrage von Highend-Konfektionären, Industriekonzernen, dem Gesundheitswesen und Regierungsbehörden an funktionellen Gewebelösungen schnell und direkt decken zu können, wird Carrington seine Präsenz im Mittleren Osten ausbauen. Dazu ist das Unternehmen ein Joint Venture mit einem Distributor in den Vereinigten Arabischen Emiraten eingegangen und hat Carrington Textiles Middle East gegründet. Die neue Tochtergesellschaft wird die sechs Staaten des Goldkooperationsrats (GCC) Bahrain, Katar, Kuwait, das Königreich Saudi-Arabien, das Sultanat Oman und die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate ab Lager in Sharjah  bedienen. Dort werden 150.000 Meter leichtgewichtiger Berufs- und Schutzkleidungsgewebe mit einem hohen Baumwollanteil bevorratet.