Shercock textile company beating the Chinese

The next time you sit down on the sofa in your home, there is a fair chance that the exquisite quality fabric will have been woven in Tabetex, a winning textile operation in the town of Shercock. The company's products are proving extremely popular in the UK and Poland and they have a turnaround from design to weaving to delivery, which leaves the Chinese floundering in their wake. Brothers Richard and Mark Vergnano are the managing directors of Tabetex, which will be 50 years operating in the town next year. Richard told The Anglo-Celt this week that they weave fabrics for upholstery including suites of furniture and curtain making. He revealed that his textile company exports 70% of what they manufacture in their Shercock plant.They also sell their products to furniture manufactures in the Cavan, Monaghan and Meath region. "We are endeavouring to be as flexible as possible with a very fast turnaround. We are still competing and hope to expand over the next two years," said Richard Vergnano. "We keep working on the aspect of being more design-led and a bit faster to market with new products, new colours and new developments and giving a better service to those furniture manufacturers, primarily in the UK and Poland. The more fragmented the market becomes, the better it suits us," he added.There are 20 people employed in Tabetex at present and Richard sees the growth coming from the UK. He says the biggest handicap for a small industry like Tabetex in Ireland at present is costs including energy, transport, labour and rates. "If we could get our prices more competitive, we would do a lot more business," he said. Mark Vergnano who is involved in the engineering and technical end of the business revealed that they had purchased new machinery recently. In relation to textile production, it is not a case of just purchasing one machine, but purchasing an entire plant. "The only reason that we survive today in Shercock is due to the fact that we have very fast turnaround - from order to dispatch, the duration is just ten days, that's what we specialise in. That is something you will not get from China and you will not get it from the rest of Europe either," he said. He stressed that quality has to be top class. All yarn suppliers are ordered by email and all invoicing comes in via email. "We have our own design system here and we also have design done in Milan as well. From concept to weaving can now be down to a duration of just one day. Our weaving machines are all computerised, so it is just case of putting in the information, setting up the machinery and letting it run," explained Mark. He added that you can get product from places like China but the wait is anything from six weeks to two months and fashions can change in that amount of time. The quick turnaround in Shercock beats that hands down.He said the company was established in 1959 and the production commenced in 1960. "We will have been producing fabric here for very nearly 50 years." Their father Luciano came to Shercock in 1959 and established the business with the help of the IDA. He intended to return to Italy but he met a Armagh lady Ann and never went back. He has been retired out of the business for ten years. Mark has been running the company for 20 years and Richard has been involved for 18.