Rochdale manufacturer undergoes £2m investment

Finance director Phil Burgess and managing director Darren Payne

A Rochdale manufacturer that produces industrial strength textiles has undergone a £2m investment.

Marathon Belting Ltd was formed in 1976 and was acquired by German company Heimbach in 2007.

The company employs 73 people across two sites in Rochdale – at Healey Mill, on Whitworth Road and in Caldershaw Industrial Estate – and manufactures specialised multiply woven technical textiles.

The company exports around 85% of its products to 125 countries around the world.

Managing director Darren Payne said: “The new investment will definitely improve productivity and end use possibilities for our materials. We manufacture technical textiles for industrial applications in a number of industries that require different performance characteristics. 

“One of our particular strengths lies in our ability to provide logical, practical and often bespoke textile solutions that rise to our customers’ expectations. 

“During the 40 years we have been working in high performance, precision textiles, we have acquired a breadth of expertise, product knowledge and in-depth appreciation of different yarns and weaving fabric designs.”

Finance director Phil Burgess said the investment in state-of-the-art machinery meant Marathon Belting was well placed for a good 2020.

“It will give us increased productivity and flexibility in the end products that we can create,” he said. “The investment is a statement of our commitment to Rochdale. Around 70 per cent of our staff come from the surrounding area and we’ve got an excellent relationship with Rochdale Borough Council. 

“There are some very positive projects taking place in Rochdale and we want to be part of it. We’re blessed by our close proximity to Manchester Airport and the local distribution network.”

Despite winning three Queen’s Awards for its Technological Achievement and Export Achievement (twice) one of the biggest challenges for the company remained recruitment and generating interest in the traditional manufacturing methods that are producing technical products for high performance applications.