Prototype. Chapter text drafted from the research notes and not yet checked at the archives. Images awaiting permission are marked.

Cormar Carpets

Company · not yet checked at the source · Image permission pending

Made by: Neville Cormack
Date: founded 1956
Place: Rossendale Valley; Greenmount, near Bury, Lancashire
Held by: Cormar Carpets
Themes: Machine tufting & Dalton, Global diffusion of tufting

View at the source Cited in chapter 7, note 21

Cite this source

Neville Cormack. “Cormar Carpets,” founded 1956. Cormar Carpets. cormarcarpets.co.uk/about-us/our-history.

Research notes

Neville Cormack, aged 26, bought two tufting machines at a Manchester machinery exhibition in 1955 and in 1956 founded Cormar Carpets, the company says "with the advent of a new method of making carpet, called tufted". Production began at Nunn Hills Mill, moved to Brookhouse Mill, Greenmount in 1959, and added Holme Mill, Ramsbottom in 1973. Still family-run (son David from 1987; Helen and Edward Polito now). Why it matters: an early British adopter of American tufting machines in the heartland of woven carpet; dates the arrival of tufting in UK manufacturing. Dates: 1955/1956 consistent (company, Wikipedia, The Manufacturer). Headcount 280 vs 400+. Independent sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cormar_Carpets · https://www.themanufacturer.com/articles/cormar-carpets-marks-70-years-of-british-manufacturing/ · https://ramsbottomheritage.org.uk/holme-mill/ Research note (Oct 2026): facts taken from search-result summaries; the pages themselves weren't opened. Check the cited pages before quoting.