The Bristol Weaving Mill

What The Bristol Weaving Mill does

The Bristol Weaving Mill Ltd is a privately held micro-mill based in Bristol, UK, founded in 2015 by textile designers Juliet Bailey and Franki Brewer, co-founders of the Dash & Miller studio. The company designs, samples, and manufactures bespoke woven fabrics, throws, cushions, and soft accessories for fashion designers, couturiers, designer-makers, lifestyle brands, home interior retailers, and artists. Notable enterprise clients include Toast, Heal's, Donna Wilson, Neptune, and The New Craftsmen. Operations center on a 1985 Dornier dobby loom ('Dorian'), restored with ERDF funding and supplemented by hand-looms and CAD software for design work, with bulk production scaled through a network of Yorkshire commission weavers and UK spinners, dyers, and finishers.

The business operates a hybrid revenue model combining project-based bespoke commissions and production services (quote-based) with a direct-to-consumer e-commerce line of limited-edition Wool & Linen Blankets priced at £236 each, plus wholesale enquiries for trade customers. Distribution spans a direct B2B project-commission channel, an own e-commerce storefront with international shipping (Europe, US, Rest of World), and wholesale trade relationships. Sustainability is a core positioning pillar, anchored by the Bristol Cloth project (with Fernhill Farm and Botanical Inks), membership in the South West England Fibreshed, and a woodland partnership with Co-forest since 2021. In September 2024, the company launched the Community Weave-Up, a cooperative small-batch blanket model. The company remains founder-controlled, is registered in England as a private limited company (company number 08625777), and has not raised external institutional capital.

Name

The Bristol Weaving Mill

Legal name

The Bristol Weaving Mill Ltd.

Website

https://bristolweavingmill.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Bristol Weaving Mill is a Bristol-based micro-mill founded in 2015 that designs, samples, and manufactures bespoke woven fabrics and soft accessories for fashion designers, lifestyle brands, home interior retailers, and designer-makers, supplemented by a DTC blanket e-commerce line.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Bespoke Textile Manufacturing

NAICS

Broadwoven Fabric Mills (31321), Fabric Mills (3132)

SIC

Textile Mill Products (2200), Broadwoven Fabric Mills, Man Made Fiber & Silk (2221)

akta.pro primary industry

Technical Fabric Mills (Performance/Protective/Medical Substrates) (IMAOABAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Woven Fabrics (CRAAAMAB)

Keywords

• Bespoke woven fabrics
• Hand-weaving services
• Textile manufacturing
• Micro-mill textiles
• Sustainable textiles

Headquarters

HQ city

Bristol

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Bespoke Fabric Commission: Design, sampling, and manufacture of bespoke woven fabrics, throws, cushions, and soft accessories for individual client projects. No-boundaries approach to design, sampling, and small-batch production.
2. E-commerce Retail Sales: Direct sales of limited-edition wool and linen blankets made from repurposed surplus yarn from client projects. Fixed unit pricing at £236 per blanket.
3. Production & Scale-up Services: Handle small orders and sampling in-house, then scale up to meet bulk demand by working with commission weavers in Yorkshire and a network of UK spinners, dyers, and finishers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Bristol Weaving Mill is a micro-mill based in Bristol, UK, offering a no-boundaries approach to the design, sampling, and manufacture of bespoke woven fabrics and soft accessories. The company serves fashion designers, designer-makers, lifestyle brands, and home interior retailers with hand-weaving and CAD-based design capabilities, scaling to bulk production through a network of commission weavers in Yorkshire. It also produces limited-edition wool and linen blankets from repurposed surplus yarns for direct retail sale, and operates the Community Weave-Up cooperative blanket project.

Product overview

The Bristol Weaving Mill is a micro-mill offering a no-boundaries approach to the design, sampling, and manufacture of woven fabrics and soft accessories. The company operates as a service-based business offering bespoke design, sampling, production and manufacture, and hand-loom weaving services. For retail customers, the company sells limited-edition Wool & Linen Blankets made from repurposed surplus yarns from client projects. The product line consists of six color variants of the same Wool & Linen Blanket product (Maroon/Camel, Mauve/Teal, Lilac/Lipstick, Black/Grey, Amethyst, Maroon/Blush), all priced at £236.00 and woven in-house at their Bristol workshop. Services include production and manufacture (with scaling capability through commission weavers in Yorkshire), sampling, bespoke design, and hand-loom weaving. The Community Weave-Up project, launched in September 2024, offers an affordable collective approach to small-batch blanket production.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Wool & Linen Blanket (Limited Edition) Limited-edition soft wool and linen blanket manufactured using surplus yarns collected from client projects at The Bristol Weaving Mill. Woven in-house at the Bristol workshop. Measures approximately 155cm x 220cm. Available in multiple color variants including Maroon/Camel, Mauve/Teal, Lilac/Lipstick, Black/Grey, Amethyst, and Maroon/Blush. Priced at £236.00. Sold direct-to-consumer via the company's e-commerce shop with free UK delivery and international shipping.
• Bespoke Design Tailor-made on-brand creative input and technical design work delivered from fibre through to final product. The team works with CAD software and hand-looms to propose woven designs that translate each client's aesthetic into viable products. Quote-based pricing per project.
• Sampling Small batch orders and sample products woven and finished in-house at the Bristol facility, enabling clients to verify designs and showcase concepts before committing to bulk production.
• Hand-Loom Weaving Design swatches, fabric lengths, and woven products woven by hand in Bristol. The facility uses a retired 1985 Dornier dobby loom named 'Dorian' as the backbone of the sampling capability.
• Production & Manufacture Bulk fabric and woven products made in the UK, with the mill working with commission weavers in Yorkshire to scale up production to meet bulk demand. Includes project management from materials sourcing through sampling, manufacture, finishing, cut & sew, and quality control.
• Community Weave-Up Affordable cooperative blanket production offering that uses a collective deadstock British Wool warp with customers' own yarn in the weft to produce affordable, small-batch woven blankets.

Named customers15 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• Co-forestcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Local reforestation initiative managing The Bristol Weaving Mill Woodland at a repurposed site near Bristol. Team members have participated in planting mixed native woodland since 2021 as part of the company's pledge to reduce net carbon emissions to zero.
• PiliocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSustainability policy and roadmap created in partnership with Pilio, which provides businesses with a science-based approach to net zero and nature positive.
• South West England FibreshedcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMember of the South West England Fibreshed, a community of fibre and dye growers, processors, makers, and manufacturers across the South West region.
• Bristol ClothflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerKey role in the Bristol Cloth project which uses regeneratively farmed wool fibres from Fernhill Farm in the Mendip hills, processed without harmful synthetic chemicals and dyed with organic plant dyes by Botanical Inks, then woven by The Bristol Weaving Mill.
• Fernhill FarmcoreOthersSupplier of fleece and yarn from regeneratively farmed sheep in the Mendip hills. Provides materials for the Bristol Cloth project. Specializes in natural fibre processing, wool shearing, and grading.
• Botanical InkscoreOthersPartner for the Bristol Cloth project, providing organic plant dyes for the natural dyeing process without harmful synthetic chemicals.
• Commission Weavers in YorkshirecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNetwork of commission weavers used to scale up production to meet bulk demand, enabling the company to handle both small sampling orders and larger commercial production runs.
• UK Spinners, Dyers, Fabric Finishers, and Cut & Sew HousesminorOthersSkilled network of UK-based textile production partners including spinners, dyers, fabric finishers, and cut and sew houses to deliver complete finished products.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Holland & Sherry: Global luxury woven fabric supplier to tailors and designers; broader incumbent in the bespoke and high-end woven fabric category that Bristol Weaving Mill's couture clients also use.
• Abraham Moon & Sons: Established British woollen mill producing woven fabrics and home textiles; broader incumbent with overlapping woven textile product lines and sustainability initiatives.
• Begg & Co: Scottish maker of woven cashmere and wool accessories and fabrics; broader incumbent in premium woven textiles with a heritage and sustainability narrative.
• Johnstons of Elgin: Larger Scottish cashmere and fine wool mill with vertically integrated spinning, weaving, and finishing; a broader incumbent in the same premium woven textile space.

Direct peers

• Wallace Sewell: London-based design studio producing woven textiles for fashion and interiors; comparable to Bristol Weaving Mill as a small, design-led UK woven textile maker working with handlooms and yarn dyers.
• Foxford Woollen Mills: Irish woollen mill weaving blankets, throws, and fabrics using natural fibres; comparable small-to-mid heritage weaving mill with DTC and wholesale channels.
• Joshua Ellis: Yorkshire-based cashmere and woollen mill producing woven accessories and fabrics; comparable UK weaving mill serving premium fashion and home brands.
• Linton Tweeds: Scottish bespoke and production weaver supplying luxury tweed fabrics to fashion houses; comparable woven substrate mill with couture and high-end fashion customers.
• Dugdale Bros & Co: Heritage English cloth maker producing worsted and woollen woven fabrics for tailors and designers; comparable woven fabric mill supplying fashion and couture customers.
• The Natural Fibre Company: UK-based fibre processing and small-batch yarn/blanket producer focused on natural and rare breed fibres; comparable micro-mill model with similar supply chain and small UK team.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/bristolweavingmill
• Instagraminstagram.com/bristol_weaving
• Xx.com/bristol_weaving
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-bristol-weaving-mill-ltd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Bristol Weaving Mill