Arville Welcomes British High Commissioner to Pakistan to Explore Future Textile Collaboration
Arville recently welcomed Jane Marriott CMG OBE, British High Commissioner to Pakistan, to our Wetherby HQ for a visit focused on the potential for greater trade, knowledge sharing and collaboration between the British and Pakistani textile industries.
Organised by Shahban Aziz, Managing Director of the Textile Centre of Excellence, the visit brought together representatives from British industry, international trade and higher education to explore how two textile industries with very different strengths could learn from one another.
Jane was joined by James Kelly, Deputy Head of Middle East and Pakistan Bilateral Trade Relations at the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, Professor Parik Goswami, Director of Research and Innovation at the University of Huddersfield, and Max Partington of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.
Showcasing 75 years of Yorkshire textile expertise
During the visit, Jane was given an insight into Arville’s end-to-end UK manufacturing capabilities, from highly technical textile design and specialist weaving at our Wetherby HQ to coating and fabrication at our sister sites in Bury and Bradford.
The tour also showcased the breadth of our technical textile applications and how Arville has evolved from its traditional Yorkshire textile roots into a specialist manufacturer of high-value engineered fabrics used in demanding industries around the world.
As Group Chief Executive Officer Steve Gill explained:
“This region has undergone a remarkable transformation from traditional textile manufacturing to highly engineered technical fabrics, building generations of knowledge and expertise along the way.”
Today, Arville supplies specialist technical textiles to more than 50 countries, with applications across industries including aerospace, defence, automotive, protective clothing and industrial markets.
Collaboration, not competition
Pakistan has one of the largest textile industries in the world, with significant strengths in cotton, yarn, fabric and garment production.
Arville, meanwhile, has spent decades developing expertise in specialist, higher-value technical textiles.
Rather than viewing these strengths as competition, discussions focused on how they could complement one another.
Potential opportunities included developing partnerships with textile manufacturers and weavers in Pakistan, improving access to key raw materials such as cotton, sharing technical knowledge and strengthening research and skills links between the two countries.
As Steve added:
“We see considerable potential for a two-way relationship, combining Pakistan’s established textile industry with the advanced technical textile expertise and manufacturing capabilities we have developed here in the UK.”
Exploring opportunities for defence and specialist applications
The visit also opened conversations around potential new markets for Arville’s specialist technical textiles.
With extensive experience developing and manufacturing high-performance fabrics for defence applications, one area discussed was the potential for Arville’s expertise and products to support requirements within Pakistan’s defence sector.
It forms part of our wider ambition to raise Arville’s international profile and explore new markets where British technical textile expertise can provide genuine value.
Could technical textiles help tackle water contamination?
Perhaps one of the most interesting conversations of the visit looked beyond traditional textile applications altogether.
Water contamination and access to cleaner water are significant challenges in parts of Pakistan. Discussions explored whether Arville’s technical filtration textile expertise could contribute to the development of solutions designed to address contaminated water.
It is an early-stage opportunity, but a powerful example of what can happen when technical expertise is shared and applied to new challenges.
For Arville, this is exactly where the potential of greater collaboration becomes particularly exciting: not simply exporting products from one country to another, but combining knowledge, manufacturing capability, research and innovation to help solve real-world problems.
Putting West Yorkshire textile innovation on the international stage
The visit also provided an important opportunity to showcase the wider strength of West Yorkshire’s modern textile industry.
Shahban Aziz, Managing Director of the Textile Centre of Excellence, said:
“The region has a proud textile heritage, but today it is also home to highly innovative businesses developing specialist products for some of the world’s most demanding industries.”
He described visits such as this as an important way of raising the international profile of those capabilities and opening the door to greater trade, export and collaboration between West Yorkshire, the UK and Pakistan.
And the conversation doesn’t end here.
A number of the regional priorities discussed are expected to be taken forward at the West Yorkshire – Pakistan Trade, Industry and Innovation Summit on 12th November, providing an exciting next step in exploring what future collaboration could look like.
For Arville, the visit forms part of our wider ambition to continue growing the international reach of a business that has been manufacturing in Yorkshire since 1951, while putting the technical expertise and innovation that exists within our region firmly on the global stage.
