The textile factory built by William Hollins & Co. Ltd and opened in 1950 on Nottingham Road, Somercotes was generally known as the “Aertex Factory” after the trade name of one of their cloths “Aertex Cellular Clothing”.
An advert for bricklayers and labourers was published in the Nottingham Evening Post on 24 November 1949, and another, for 15 May 1950 stated “Bricklayers urgently required at Aertex Factory, Somercotes near Alfreton. Factory completion urgently required for export drive…Pillat & Sons, Quorn Road, Nottingham”. The building became an instant landmark in Somercotes.
PHOTO: The "Aertex" Factory, Nottingham Road, Somercotes
The company employed hundreds of workers in the area, especially female machinists manufacturing various types of garments, including the “Somercotes Shirt”, which was advertised throughout the country as an “aertex” branded item of clothing.
Over time, William Hollins & Co. Ltd merged with other textile companies and the name of the factory locally would also be known as “Viyella”.
In 1961, William Hollins became the core member of a much larger group of companies, and adopted the name Viyella International Ltd. The name “Viyella” was one of their most established and respected brands, which had been registered as a trademark in 1894. The name was derived from Via Gellia, near Cromford. William Hollins owned a mill there, which was opened in 1784.
PHOTO: Machinists at the "Aertex" Factory
The company was bought by ICI in 1969, and the following year it merged with a company called Carrington & Dewhurst, the new company being known as Carrington Viyella Ltd. During the early 1980s several other mergers took place but the company retained its name until it merged with Coats Patons Plc, to become Coats Viyella Plc.
About 1991, Coats Viyella bought out Tootal Ltd (which then owned English Sewing at Belper) but by this time the textile industry in the UK was already in decline. In the year 2000, Coats Viyella abandoned the contract clothing business and a fifty year relationship with their client Marks & Spencer Plc was severed. It immediately closed four factories and reduced its workforce, although the Somercotes operation was not directly affected. However, the company proceeded to dispose of most of its remaining contract clothing business and close factories that were not part of its new structure.
PHOTO: The factory prior to its demolition in 2004
The Somercotes factory was closed around 2002, and remained derelict for some time. The whole structure was finally demolished in 2004.