PRODUCTION of one of Durham’s best known brands is celebrating a successful 12 months after returning to the region from Poland.

When Hugh Mackay Carpets went into administration in 2005 it was the end of one of Durham’s most important industries.

But last December, the world-renowned brand started rolling off looms in the North-East for the first time in more than a decade.

After around 10 years of being made in Poland, the carpets are now being produced by Washington-based Griffiths Textiles.

Alan Kennedy, who joined Hugh Mackay Carpets at the age of 16, has championed the return of production to the region.

He said: “It’s something I’ve been pushing for quite a few years but in the last 12 months it’s fallen into place.

“It’s always been a very strong brand. It’s similar to something like Sheffield steel, it’s what Durham was known for. We made some of the best carpets in the world. It really was world renowned.

“Getting the opportunity to bring the brand back to the North-East was a great.”

Mr Kennedy started working at Hugh Mackay in Durham in 1978, following in the footsteps of his father who had started there in the early 1950s.

He added: "This was a company with a history of over 100 years of carpet manufacturing in Durham. Most of the work force had worked there for many years, some families having more than one generation of employees."

This year Griffiths Textiles started making around 25 per cent of the company's production

An agreement has now been made to double production in the next 12 months, which will bring the output in the region to 200,000 square metres a year and will create four or five extra jobs at the factory.

Four former Hugh Mackay workers, with more than 100 years experience between them, are among those making the carpets at the Washington factory.

Whitestone Weavers, based in Hartlepool, bought the brand in 2006 following Hugh Mackay's merger with Gaskell Carpets in Lancashire.

All production had been moved to Poland until an agreement in December 2015 which brought some back to the North East.

Griffiths managing director Dave Watson said: “For us to be associated with Alan after all these years and the Hugh Mackay brand is brilliant and has allowed us to offer additional employment.