1991-1992: Large production facility in Shanghai opens; occupying an area of over two hundred thousand square feet (the size of 5 football pitches) with approximately 500 staff members. 1993: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation of Japan sign Business and Technical sharing agreement. 1994: The first of many Mitsubishi products come off the production line. 1995: Started production of fully automatic electronic high speed sewing machines 1996: Advanced world class sewing machine head & bed production line installed and set-up by the Mitsubishi Electric Corporation of Japan. The first of the 500x500 horizontal machining centres installed. 1997: ISO 9000:1994 Registration & quality control system integration. 2000: The production of world class long arm and special purpose heavy duty machines started. 2001: ISO 9001:2000 Registration 2002: The production of world class Mitsubishi PLK & Highlead HLK electronic programmable bar tack sewing machines started. 2003: Invested in the new "Highlead Technology Centre" working hand-in hand with local universities and famous overseas sewing machine brands to increase new product development. For example 26 new products were developed in 2003. Advanced direct-drive sewing machines with dry-head technology introduced. Braithwaite Sewing Machines appointed exclusive UK and Ireland distributor for all Highlead brand sewing machines. 2004: Sales exceed 300 million Yuan in this year. Highlead sewing machine showroom opens at Braithwaite distribution centre in Manchester England. 2005: ERP production management system introduced. Production agreement signed with German company for automotive airbags automatic sewing machine. 2006: Invested the equivalent of over 3.3 million UK pounds in advanced equipment to complement and expand production line. 2007: Product range now incorporates 5 major categories of sewing equipment with 280 sub category models. 2008: KL100 CNC automatic airbag sewing machine receives Industry Federation Science and Technology award. 2009: Received National Light Industry Enterprise Performance Excellence Award. Advanced Highlead HLK direct drive electronic pattern sewing machine range introduced. 2010: Highlead brand industrial sewing machines now the largest heavy duty range on display in UK. Increased development of new automatic programmable industrial sewing machine models. 2011: Celebrating the 20th anniversary of Highlead with a series of activities and ceremonies. 2012: Received National Light Industry Enterprise Performance Excellence Award. 2013: Product range now includes over 300 models, sold via the Highlead network to over 60 countries. Mitsubishi Japan increases model varieties for OEM manufacture at Shanghai production facility. 2014: Construction planned for new larger production facility to meet the ever increasing worldwide demand for Highlead heavy duty industrial Sewing Machines. Strategic cooperation agreement signed between Highlead and the worlds largest car seat manufacturer. 2015: New larger production facility to open. Invested the equivalent of over 4.1 million UK pounds in new plant and equipment. 2016: Official opening ceremony held for the Brand new and expanded production facility. Received National Light Industry Enterprise Performance Excellence Award. 2017: ISO 9001:2015 Registration Received Silver medal, science & technology award, for our new direct drive walking foot model GC20618-1DZA 2018: The Highlead network continues to expand with models now sold in over 90 countries. 2019: Updated our garment sewing machine range, introducing new light to medium weight models for sale alongside our more traditional heavy weight and heavy duty models. |