CAMPBELLS of Beauly, the family-owned tweed tailoring and retail business, has changed hands for the first time in its 158-year history.
The Inverness-shire company has been sold by the fourth generation of the Campbell family in order to retire.
It has been acquired by two families steeped in the textile industry, including the former managing director of Johnstons of Elgin.
The value of the deal was not disclosed, but it is said to have secured the future of the Highland business.
Campbells of Beauly specialises in estate designing tweeds for sport and country wear, and boasts a team of skilled tailoring staff. It historically held the Royal Warrants for HRH the Prince of Wales (later the Duke of Windsor) and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.
The company employs a total of nine staff across its tailoring, warehouse and retail functions.
The new owners are the Brookes and Sugden families, originally from Yorkshire but now based in Scotland. They come from a rich tradition in the textile industry, having been involved in family mills in Huddersfield for several generations.
James Sugden, one of the new co-owners, spent 20 years as managing director of knitwear business Johnstons of Elgin. In that role he was responsible for the textile firm's knitwear plant in Hawick, where he lives, which runs in tandem with its operation in Elgin. Mr Sugden, who left Johnstons of Elgin 18 months ago, is a director of Brora, the cashmere clothing company, and a non-executive director of Baxters of Speyside.
Fellow co-owner Charlie Brooke farms at Midfearn in Ardgay, Sutherland. His forebears founded what is understood to be the oldest family firm in Britain, John Brooke & Sons, in 1541.
The connection between Mr Brookes and Mr Sugden stretches back to when they were both apprentice cloth makers in Huddersfield.
Mr Sugden said: "We are both very pleased that, after discussion over many years, the Campbells have decided to pass this business into our hands. We intend to take good care of it and invest and develop the assets, with particular reference to tailoring and retailing.
"Campbells have some unique designs and selling points, and in this age of mass produced textiles, we believe there is a place for bespoke service."
Mr Sugden said the new owners would work with Scottish cloth designer John Gillespie and the Knockando Woolmill in Morayshire to develop new estate tweed patterns for the Campbells range.
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