* Wins prestigious ‘Firm of the Year’ title at the World Textile Awards and brings glory to the Sri Lankan Apparel Industry

Textured Jersey Lanka PLC (TJL) emerged the overall victor at the World Textile Awards in London, by winning the topmost award across all categories and being bestowed the much sought after global title ‘Firm of The Year.’ Apart from the highest honour, Textured Jersey also won the World’s Top Spot in their respective category award as ‘Dyer & Finisher of the Year,’

Both awards are pinnacles in many ways and milestones to the Company as they journey towards becoming the Best Mill in this region. This is a first time achievement by a local fabric manufacturing company, helping place Sri Lanka on the map as a destination for World Class Manufacturing.

TJL, Sri Lanka’s leader in Weft knit Fabric manufacturing were selected as champions from amongst a large group of top global industrialists who represented seven different areas in the Apparel industry such as fibre, spinning, weaving and garment making. They beat competitors from UK, USA, China, India, Turkey and a dozen leading destinations for textile and garments in their journey to the top.

The World Textile Awards, the premier platform for industry specialists from around the world to showcase their expertise, was created to recognise and reward companies that set the benchmark for others.  The Companies, which went through a stringent selection process, were judged by an elite panel, comprising the industry’s most respected experts from across the globe; drawn from leading international textile organisations, institutions and companies.

The mission of the Awards, headquartered in London, is to provide a global platform to reward excellence amongst outstanding textile companies across the entire industry, from fibre production to end stitched product. The main supporting hand of the mission is Charted Institute for Clothing and Textiles and Footwear in UK which is a 90 year old globally recognized institute around the world with members in 70 countries.

Adrian Dinsdale, CEO of the World Textile Awards, commending the ‘Firm of the Year’ said, “We are delighted to give this award to Textured Jersey. The judges were impressed not only by the firm’s ability to meet our strict judging criteria but also by the immense enthusiasm and energy that came across in the submission.”

Sriyan de Silva Wijeyeratne, Managing Director of Textured Jersey, remarked: “This is an incredibly exciting award for us to win, and reflects the passion and dedication of the entire team. We have made it our vision to build a firm of global significance. Winning this prestigious title from the World Textile Awards is wonderful recognition of our efforts, and we are thankful to them for the honour. It certainly inspires us to reach greater heights. We will continue to draw from our rich heritage, our strong competencies, and our globally strong shareholders, to continue to bring excitement, and satisfaction to all our Customers and Partners, in a Sustainable manner, through Innovative high quality fabrics.”

TJL who is top of the class for their fabric innovations and reputed to meet the highest international standards in product quality, is amongst the LMD top 50 companies in Sri Lanka. The company has continually sustained an exceptionally high award winning standard, winning many Sustainability awards and were also crowned the Winners in the ‘Apparel, Textiles, Leather and manufacturing sector’ by the National Chamber of Commerce at the National Business Excellence Awards.

TJL who closed their financial year with a strong Ten Million Dollar profit and an impressive Share price appreciation, recently acquired Quenby Lanka, a state of the art fabric printing company. With ambitious aspirations backed by a dedicated and competent team, the company looks all set to steer their path towards a long-term growth phase and appears confident of staying the winning course.

Textured Jersey, was founded in Sri Lanka in 2001. Listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange, TJL is backed by two leading industrialists - Pacific Textiles Hong Kong and Brandix Lanka as its main shareholders. The company supplies to some of the best international brands including Marks & Spencer, Victoria’s Secret, Intimissimi, Tezenis and Calvin Klein.

Photo caption: Bill Lam, Chairman, Textured Jersey (left) and Sriyan de Silva Wijeyeratne, MD:CEO, Textured Jersey