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LANCASHIRE LEADERS By Rob Kelly


Real funding. Real deals.


Real decisions. Growing a business, planning an acquisition, or exploring investment? This is where you’ll learn how funding really works.


Steve Bell Pierce


Martin Emmott Rosebud


FROM LOOMS TO LEADERSHIP


The textile trade isn’t just part of David Collinge’s family story. It is woven into its very fabric.


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The 62-year-old new High Sheriff of Lancashire’s life and career have been shaped by the industry. It runs through his story like an unbroken thread.


A sixth-generation weaver, David spent most of his working life in his family’s business. John Spencer Textiles has been part of Burnley’s industrial story for more than 150 years.


Now retired from day-to-day business life, he has stepped into one of the county’s most historic civic roles. During his year as high sheriff, he hopes to shine a light on organisations supporting victims of crime, rehabilitation and reintegration, those who are often working quietly and without public recognition.


The role is quite a departure for David. He says: “I’m not a natural public figure, I’ve spent most of my working life behind the scenes, trying to solve problems and keep a business moving forward.”


Born in Nelson and now living in the Ribble Valley, David is quick to define himself not by office, but by trade. “I always describe myself first and foremost as a Lancashire weaver,” he declares. “That’s who I am.”


David’s great great great grandfather began weaving on the hills above Burnley in the mid


19th century, when subsistence farmers wove cloth during the winter months to supplement their income.


As industrialisation accelerated, the family moved into the town, installing their first mechanised looms on Trafalgar Street.


From there, the business grew steadily, eventually building its own mill and, by 1920, operating more than 2,400 looms across two sites.


David hadn’t planned on joining the family business. He trained as a press photographer and went on to work for a daily newspaper in East Anglia.


However, the pull of the family firm proved strong. David studied for a degree in textile


We lost 120 looms. It was traumatic, but it also gave us a clean start.”


With extraordinary commitment from the workforce and strong support from insurers, the business rebuilt and was operational again within 12 months. The fire accelerated modernisation, opening the door to new technical markets and specialist work.


David stepped fully into leadership at a time when the industry itself was shrinking rapidly. He says: “I’ve had no leadership training at all.


“It was about getting down and dirty, understanding people’s jobs, and not being frightened of making decisions, even if they didn’t always work.”


It feels daunting. But if I can spend a year


thanking people, spotlighting work that often goes unseen and bringing people together, that will be time well spent


technology, with a dissertation on ‘how to modernise and rebuild an old Lancashire mill’.


That piece of work became relevant in 1991 when disaster struck and the mill was almost completely destroyed by fire. David says: “I found the whole place collapsed and smoking.


As managing director, David reshaped the company into a manufacturing business that operates more like a service partner. “We didn’t second guess customers – we worked with them,” he says.


That approach became critical when changes


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