Shaw of Australia is adopting a bold strategy on the cusp of a new year distinguished by a market which economists predict will be difficult. Rather than take a conservative stance and cut back on funding projects, the company is committed to significant investment in 2009.

Perhaps the most ambitious project is a 15,000- square-metre manufacturing complex in China, twice the size of its domestic production operation in the Sydney suburb of Marrickville, which will continue to operate.

The first fabric from this facility will be shown at R+T Stuttgart in a strategy designed to build export trade in many markets, including those previously inaccessible due to pricepoints, such as South America, Russia and Eastern Europe. Ambitious plans “Next year will be difficult with the world’s economy. However, we still see opportunities,” says CEO, Bradley Awerbuch. “We understand the economy will be pretty bad and the market will depreciate.

Our aim is to get more market share from a smaller market.” The China facility has been designed to produce a wide range of fabrics across many different price categories.

“We’ve built a state-of-the-art factory from scratch, and we want to introduce world-class standards of quality in everything that we do, in the same way you have the likes of Mercedes and BMW manufacturing in third world countries but producing the same quality that comes out of Europe,” he says.

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