The relationship with Marks and Spencer was developed by supplying them with knitted outer-wear made on new 21 gauge fully fashioned machines.
In the early '60's fully-fashioned stockings went right out of popularity and no-seams became the norm. This trend put Berkshire in the position of having lots of skilled workers in a lesser-skilled scenario and led to massive changes and to the commencement of the production of Fully Fashioned Knitwear.
Neville Barrett spearheaded the setting up of the new 21 gauge machinery in 1963?? and an extension to the rear of the premises at Newtownards facilitated the garment-pressing, dye assembling and garment making-up.

Sandy Ballentine taking off a body piece.	Nancy Megarry linking a collar to a dyed garment.

The knitting of the trimmings, collars and plackets, the body and sleeve peices took place in a room which had been used for Fully Fashioned hosiery production.
Greige (undyed) making-up was carried out adjacently and the garments then made their way to pressing and dyeing.
In 1972 all knitting and finishing operations moved to the Dundonald Plant.
Following this move to Dundonald investment was made in Stoll electronic patterning machines and high quality design input but the Division struggled to acheive satisfactory production cost efficiencies and from the preponderence of costly and unfashionable fully-fashioned products.
Alex Fetherston and Eric Lowry made a number of visits to Baker Street, London, to meet directors and senior executives at M & S and met with some success in generating much needed sales of fully-fashioned products (frequently with a high content of linked collars or sleeves) but mostly at very competitive prices against a backgrouund of high (seventies) cost inflation.
in 1975 we approached our U.S. parent company, VF Corporation, to agree partial use of the Dundonald facilities for the manufacture of Lee Rider denim jackets, at Dundonald, and subsequently to the establishment of the Lee Clothing Division with a consequent mushroom growth in the number of people employed.

....to be continued.......