P52-60 embroidery passed:Layout 1 21/01/2009 12:34 Page 53
EMBROIDERY
Big Brother’s back
One of the biggest selling entry-level embroidery
machines last year was the Brother 620. Neill
Barston visits J and B Embroidery in Newport,
Wales, to meet company director Robert Miller.
A
fter being in the industry for nearly 50 years, Newport firm J and B knows
a thing or two about sewing machines. With a huge range at its disposal,
the company seems in fine health.
As its managing director Robert Miller
explains, the industry has developed massively
since his early days in the embroidery business,
but it’s been a rewarding challenge.
Today, the company has branched out
of its initial strength of selling
embroidery machines and embraced new
digital printing technology (AnaJet
printers).
But by far its biggest sellers
remain the Brother range of
machines that have proved
incredibly reliable. Its latest
addition, the Brother 620, has
proved among its most successful since
being introduced last year.
The Brother 600 - forerunner of the
PR620 which is proving one of the
For anyone looking to get into small- company’s best sellers.
scale printwear embroidery as a business, then there could be no better machine
than this, explains Rob.
He comments: “It’s simply a great start=up machine. From the first day that we
took delivery of them they have just worked. They are very reliable and have low
maintenance costs. The good thing is that they are also easy to use- within a few
hours you can be embroidering and it’s easy to increase production with them.
The latest version now has a leg attachment that allows easy embroidering of
jeans which is a really good feature. We use a software system called Creative
DRAWings with them that turns digital images into stitches.
At J and B there are instruction classes which anyone is welcome to come
along to- we can teach anyone- we had someone here who was 88 recently.”
With the economic downturn. some will be wondering getting into the
printwear market is a tall order at present.
Robert offers some optimism: “The printwear business is massive. More and
more people are looking to have a corporate identity, from work groups to
nightclub bouncers. We are certainly optimistic about the future here. There is all
this talk about the credit crunch, but I think now is an ideal time to be launching
a new business.”
As for his own company, J and B was started by Rob’s parents in the early 60s
and he was soon taken on board as a youngster. While the technologies have
changed dramatically, it’s been a great career..
Demonstrating considerable ambition, the Welsh firm has expanded its
operations to Tangiers in Morocco, trading industrial embroidery machines.
“We have had to adapt our business to the changes which have occurred- we
have gone from a country that has had large scale manufacturing with factories
in which thousands of people worked to one where you’ve got firms with as little
as 10 people. We are still very much a sewing machine company, but going into
digital machines has been quite a natural fit for us- over the next five years it’s
going to be really big.”
For more information see
www.jbsewing.com or 01633 281555.
www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk February 2009 | 53 |
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