Cash's (UK) is today one of the UK's best- quality weavers, a market leader with the computerized technology that now dominates this industry. Yet but for the pioneering fervour of two Quaker brothers in Coventry last century, the company would not exist.

John and Joseph Cash were their names. Elder sons of a wealthy stuff-merchant, they began production of silk ribbons in the early 1840s. Coventry by then was already famous for its silk weaving. Skilled jacquard weavers - Huguenots escaping persecution in Europe - had settled there and soon thousands of local people were employed in this cottage industry. Workers owned their own jacquard looms and the Cashs, like other merchants, distributed the silk for them to weave in their homes. A fixed price was paid for each finished piece.

The brothers Cash fast outgrew this system and instead became factory masters. They were among the first in Coventry, pioneers of a more enlightened approach to employment. Soon, they planned to build a 'halfway house' which would allow their workers the independence of the old outworker methods while they themselves controlled output. In 1857, work began on a site at Kingfield which Cash's (UK) was to occupy for the next 138 years. Above rows of weavers' cottages, the brothers created an upper storey with well-lit work areas housing jacquard looms powered by a central beam engine. These were the famous Cash's Topshops. And the prizewinning silk ribbons woven there were used on the prettiest gowns, to the delight of fashionable society ladies.

The Free Trade Bill of 1860 allowed continental ribbons to flood the English market and many established Coventry firms collapsed. Not Cash's. The brothers responded, switching production to narrow frillings, to Victorian silk commemoratives and latterly to woven labels with which garment manufacturers could identify their products. Then came the development that would make the name of Cash's (UK) famous.

It was in the 1870s that the first Cash's woven nametape rattled off the jacquard looms. Since then successive generations of school children have come to rely on this method of identification. In January 1964, Cash's (UK) was appointed 'Manufacturers of Woven Name Tapes to Her Majesty the Queen.' Today, as the sole survivor of those historic Coventry weavers, Cash's has consolidated market leadership by diversifying the range of quality woven products and combining its weaving heritage with the latest developments in computerized technology.

TECHNOLOGY

With its commitment to development and with technology, Cash's (UK) is now at the forefront of the woven nametapes, labels and badges industry. After 130 years of family ownership and management, the company became part of the expanding Nottinghamshire textiles holding company Jones Stroud plc in 1976. An ensuing program of rationalisation and investment resulted in the move to modern headquarters and a factory close to Coventry city centre. There, the implementation of a new workplan has led to round-the-clock working and the introduction of computerized systems for design, weaving and administration

Maintaining market leadership has always meant keeping one step ahead of the competition. As far back as the 1960s, Cash's recognized the long-term need to develop technical systems which would advance the company and its products in response to consumer demands. The subsequent technological innovation represented a breakthrough in what had been a craft industry for generations and gave Cash's (UK) both technical and marketing superiority.

The company has three distinct areas of operation: woven nametapes and personalized products, labels and badges, and gifts. Within each sector, the flexibility of computerized design and modern production technology has been introduced alongside traditional weaving skills.

Cash's (UK) was one of the first companies to implement the computer aided graphics which greatly reduce lead times when creating new designs for weaving. Similarly, advanced computerized systems were developed to drive existing quality jacquard looms and so maintain the reputation for excellence which Cash's name tapes have gained over the years.

Parallel with the adaptation of existing equipment came the evolution into new, multicolour, high-speed looms for woven labels and badges. This technological transition has enabled the company not only to keep ahead of market demands but to offer a flexible, competitive service that is hard to beat. Certainly the quality of personal service provided throughout the organization is something that constantly impresses customers, old and new.

Today Cash's (UK) is an international operation. From its headquarters and manufacturing base in the Heart of England, the company's woven products are marketed in Western Europe, North America and the Far East. In Australia, a sister company within the Group manufactures a complete range of woven and printed labels, badges, nametapes and other Group products. 150 years after those Quaker brothers founded their company, Cash's the Weavers of Coventry still leads the way.

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