A 200-year-old Scottish company, now at the forefront of hi-tech textile development, has been awarded a grant to help devise products that could make cars more easily recycled or reduce aircraft weight. Don & Low has secured the R&D Plus grant of £144,000 from economic development agency Scottish Enterprise, to help develop higher-performance, innovative fabrics. The company, which was formed in 1792 by William Don, has grown over the years through acquisitions and investment in new technology. It now has 500 employees and a turnover of £48 million.

It manufactures polypropylene woven and nonwoven fabrics in Forfar, in the north-east of Scotland – producing up to million square metres a week of materials ranging from carpet yarns to medical fabrics – and has a track record of continually developing materials, processes and products, investing well over £1 million in R&D in the last three years.

In addition to the automotive and aviation projects, products currently in development include fabrics for use by the construction industry, to help insulate and ventilate buildings more effectively, and fabrics composites to make ballistic panels, to counter terrorist attacks. It is anticipated commercialization of developments helped by the grant from Scottish Enterprise will contribute to an annual increase in sales of £2.2million.