Director's Profiles

Meet the management team

The Hainsworth team are at the heart of the company, they are what drive our ability to deliver quality textile and development outcomes every time; their expertise, motivation and approachability are central to our successful client relationships, and the past and future of the company. The details of the Directoral team can be found below.

Thomas Hainsworth, Managing Director

Born in Leeds in 1967 Thomas Hainsworth is the 7th generation of the Hainsworth family to run A.W. Hainsworth & Sons Ltd. He entered the business in 1992 following a period of globe trotting where he worked in Germany for the chemical giant BASF and India for the leather bag manufacturer Hi-design (Later to become Radley & Co).

Originally Thomas was employed at Hainsworth to help with the implementation BS 5750 Pt 2, the company’s quality system, which instilled in him the passion for continuous improvement. In 1993 with the retirement of a long serving member of staff, created an opening to work in the protective fabric division and in 1995 he became product manager. (The protective fabrics division develops and manufactures heat and flame retardant textile for the emergency services, police and military). This was a fantastic move giving the opportunity to work with global leading businesses like DuPont International SA and W L Gore as well as some of the best and most modern textile facilities in the world. During the time which Thomas lead the division, innovation was the key to success and the team created many new award winning products and several patents some of which are still sold today under the Hainsworth TITAN® brand name.

In 1999 Thomas was made a company director and was promoted to be General Manager of The Hainsworth Group. This was a difficult time, but exciting time for the group due to the difficulties in the cue sports business Riley Leisure Ltd which meant the business was in a critical position.

In 2001 he became Managing Director and with the rest of the team of Directors has help steer the company through a challenging time for the UK textile industry. Thomas puts Hainsworth success down to the fantastic people that have worked for and still work for the company.

Thomas is a BSI lead auditor, holds a 2:1 honours degree in Chemical Engineering and a Master in Business Administration from Leeds University. He is committed to continual education of the whole team; himself included and is a Director of the Huddersfield Textile Centre of Excellence and the Confederation of British Wool Textiles. Thomas lives in Leeds with his wife Louise. Has two small children and enjoys, skiing, tennis and rugby in his spare time.