The History of Hawick Knitwear Ltd
The story of Hawick Knitwear begins, not as some online sources claim in 1874, but in 1884 when William Wilson Flockhart was born to parents Thomas Flockhart and Isabella Wilson in the town of Hawick, Scotland.
Growing up in Drumlanrig Square, young William was exposed to the sights, sounds and smells of ‘factory smoke and ceaseless din’, and after leaving school he entered into the workplace as a yarnman with A.P. Innes & Co., hosiery manufacturers, an ancestor firm of the famous Braemar Knitwear Ltd. In 1910 he married Isabella Goodfellow Martin (1889-1954), a fellow Teri (i.e. native of Hawick), in Aberdeen.
Having been granted an exemption to military service during the First World War, William spent some time as a special constable before starting his own company, Hawick Knitwear Ltd., in a flat at Old Dovemount, in 1919. He later moved his business to a long-established warehouse on the opposite side of Wilton at Ladylaw Place.
According to press reports, Mr Flockhart “took no prominent part in the public life of the town, devoting himself closely [instead] to his business interests.” He would remain as chairman of Hawick Knitwear for the first thirty years of its existence, and was equally faithful in his spiritual beliefs as a member of St. John’s Church.
Hawick Knitwear Ltd. was re-incorporated as the Hawick Knitwear Manufacturing Company in 1928, with a capital of £8,000 in £1 shares, taking pride in manufacturing hosiery. In that same year, William, listed as living at Underwood, Hawick, successfully filed a patent for an improved show card for displaying patterns.
The Ladylaw Place factory, which came to be affectionately called Flockhart’s Mill, was extended and added to over time, with further office accommodation being provided in the 1930s. Apprentices of Hawick Knitwear regularly entered a team in the Hawick Junior Cricket League and workers there helped to establish a Benevolent Fund during the Second World War.
By 1944, Dr. John Martin was manager of the firm. He was also President of the Hawick Hosiery Manufacturers’ Association.
In 1946, Hawick Knitwear opened a satellite factory at Fairbairn Hall in Greenlaw, employing 10 people initially but eventually growing to a workforce of over 100 employees, with new premises being built in the 1950s. The company also briefly had a factory at Peebles, employing 20 women.
William Wilson Flockhart died in August 1951 and was cremated at Warriston in Edinburgh, bringing to a close the first chapter in the history of Hawick Knitwear.
During the next decade, Flockhart’s Mill in Hawick was extended into homes next door, with a new knitting machine flat, scouring house, boarding house and drier being built, including an adjacent boiler house and coal storage. While under construction, an ancient well was discovered behind the factory, with the water still drinkable and said to be softer than the town’s own supply.
Hawick Knitwear later became more outward in their focus, staging and selling their new twin-set and lambswool casual wares at the Edinburgh International Festival. ‘Teribus’, an ancient slogan and war cry associated with Hawick, was registered as a trademark for the firm’s fully-fashioned knitwear range.
In 1961, Hawick Knitwear Ltd. was taken over by Thistle Holdings Ltd. of Tillicoultry, at a time when they employed over 100 workers. A later merger, in December 1964, with Dalkeith Knitwear (Alfreton) Ltd., came about after the English company failed to court several other Hawick textile producers.
This merger did, however, inspire a programme of modernisation to the tune of £17,000, with the workforce being balanced between the two sites; 90 employees in Greenlaw and 75 at Hawick.
The footprint of the new Flockhart’s Mill was described thus: “These buildings comprise of a three-storey factory building with a stone and render frontage. The site slopes up to the rear (north-west) resulting in a change of ground levels between the front and rear of the building. The factory building to the rear is single storey and there are a number of rendered single storey outbuildings to this side.”
Garments from the firm’s landmark non-shrinkable lambswool range were made in Hawick in four parts and linked together and finished at Greenlaw. Most yarn was sourced from Patons & Baldwins.
In 1966 business was still booming when two new buildings were constructed for the company by R.O. Wright, while Hawick Knitwear’s Canadian subsidiaries posted a profit of $1.5million. However, less than a year, more than 30 workers were let go amid difficult trading conditions.
In 1978, Hawick Knitwear Ltd. amalgamated with James Renwick & Co., another Hawick-based knitwear company, with the combined Jaeger Group boasting a workforce of more than 300 people. This spelled the end of the second chapter for the company, though, as gradually it became a satellite firm of the Midlands-based conglomerate.
Somercotes Local History Society (covering the Alfreton area) states that the Hawick factory closed sometime after 1983-84. Another source has the Princes Street factory closing in the late 1970s. What is clear is that prior to 1983, Flockhart’s Mill was purchased by or let to Clan Douglas, cashmere producers.
With the 1991 closure of James Renwick & Co., and their Greenlaw and Hawick offices, Hawick Knitwear existed only as a brand name.
Meanwhile world-famous brand Lyle & Scott, A luxury fashion and knitwear giant also from Hawick were bought over by Harris Watson in around 2000. Harris Watson were increasing their brand portfolio and had several investments in clothing and knitwear and by this time were owners of the name Hawick Knitwear through their acquisitions of Alan Paine and Pennant Clothing.
Harris Watson then went on to purchase the afore mentioned Clan Douglas in around 2001 and the decision was made to split Lyle and Scott into two separate companies. A de-merger followed whereby Lyle & Scott relinquished manufacturing to concentrate on retail, moving its offices from Hawick to Selkirk. Ellaness Manufacturing was formed & Clan Douglas would join with Ellaness Manufacturing to become one factory, and the Hawick Knitwear name would be revived and once again became its own company. Factories at Liddesdale Road, Hawick, and in Dinnington, South Yorkshire, were maintained with a workforce of around 300 staff.
Although the company was now trading as Hawick Knitwear, Initially Harris Watson did nothing with the Hawick Knitwear Brand and their focus was developing a range using the Clan Douglas brand name. As well as this Hawick Knitwear went on to produce luxury high end knitwear for private label companies such as Brooks Brothers, Dunhill, Lyle & Scott etc to name a few.
In 2008 and 2009, two rounds of job cuts were announced within a matter of months and in 2010, Hawick Knitwear was the subject of a management takeover. This sparked the brand back into action and a Hawick knitwear range was created. The brand did a small amount of cashmere, but the bulk of their sales was in lambswool and merino.
By 2012, Bolton-based Ruia Group purchased a 50% stake in the business. A slim profit in 2013 led to a loss a year later – albeit on strong sales of over £9.3million – and the Liddesdale Road site was visited by business trouble-shooter Lord Digby Jones in 2014.
The company went into administration in early 2016, but Hong Kong-based Eric Chu, whose family owned the Chinese cashmere supplier Artwell Holdings Ltd, soon afterwards purchased the Hawick Knitwear brand and its intellectual property, trading thereafter under Lyber 2016 Ltd. The Company now on a much smaller scale and a fraction of the size it was continued to produce knitwear for several private label brands alongside the Hawick Knitwear brand. Around a year later Artwell Holdings decided to change the name From Lyber 2016 Ltd back to Hawick Knitwear and moved the factory from Liddesdale Road to new premises in Burnfoot Industrial Estate, Hawick.
Increasing production costs and reducing margins on low-value lambswool, as well as mild winters and challenging international trading conditions, all took its toll, leading to the eventual demise of Hawick Knitwear Ltd in 2019 with the loss of 20-30 jobs.
Hawick Knitwear Ltd. continued to be owned by Artwell Holdings until being struck off the Companies House register in February 2025.
Raymond Wood kept a close eye on the company in the 2020s, and in Spring 2025 made the decision to purchase the legal rights to use the Hawick Knitwear name and re-launch the brand. The idea was, and is, to keep things local and use Hawick suppliers, manufacturers and professionals to keep the famous name alive for years to come.