David Midgley - Managing Director

“Business in UK textiles changes constantly , but being involved on a daily basis with an enthusiastic team is very rewarding, if business was to standstill it would effectively be going backwards. Innovation and determination are attributes that continue to drive the business, textiles may be seen from afar as a slow moving & mature industry but close up, every day is challenging in new and exciting ways.”

Textiles runs deep in the blood, with a family business spinning crossbred yarns in Keighley from 1889, some 5 generations later David followed in the footsteps of his forefathers and began an apprenticeship in the same family spinning business, W Midgley & Sons, still located in Keighley. The traditional apprenticeship took 5 years constructed between a blend of work on the shop floor and day / evening study at Bradford college, before studying an HNC in textiles, also at Bradford. A short period was spent working in South Africa for SA Fine Worsted spinning, located in Cape Town, before returning to the UK for further education.

David, together with other colleagues successfully completed a management buyout of a number of natural fibre businesses from Allied Textiles in 2002, to form Bulmer & Lumb Group Ltd. Over the years that followed the MBO, David’s role changed from Production Director to Managing Director. Many changes have been undertaken over the years since the completion of the MBO.

Over the years, as a member of the Board, David has been a key person in running a range of production activities in this vertical business, across several sites both in the UK and in Poland.