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History of the Towel

About Victoria London

Victoria London is a leading manufacturer and distributor of luxury towels, our towels can be found in retail establishments across the UK and Europe.

At a recent Victoria London meeting, a new member of staff was interested to know where the towel originated. Where did the towel begin and how has it transformed itself over the years. Below is a brief history of the towel – this marvellous invention!


 

Natural hot spring baths

The towel is said to have originated from Bursa in Turkey back in the 17th Century. Bursa was home to a number of natural hot spring baths which included healing ingredients such as natural sulfur and iron. The baths were popular amongst the wealthy and their popularity gradually spread across the East.

The towel then known as The Pestamel (traditional Turkish Towel) was a thin woven piece of cloth. It was large enough to wrap around the body and was both absorbent and stayed light when wet.

As the Ottomon Empire grew so did the towel and its uses, and by the 18th century this plain woven piece of cotton had grown both in size and thickness (pile). As you can understand this piece of cloth was still only really available to the wealthy, it wasn’t until the 19th Century with the introduction of the cotton trade as well as industrialisation that the towel became more accessible.

As manufacturing processes developed the cotton ‘terry-towelling’ was born and gradually became more affordable and sold in shops. Designers began to work with the weavers which resulted in wonderful elaborate designs, bringing style and sometimes elegance to this once plain woven piece of cotton.


 

We love luxury towels

The towel has come a long way since its humble beginnings and is now a necessity in western homes. Nowadays there is a towel available to suit everyone’s requirements and to match their budgets. At Victoria London we stock a great selection of luxury textiles many of which can be found in;

Health Spa’s
Sports Clubs
Hotel chains
Boutique Hotels
High-end retail stores
Independent retailers


 

Our factory in Bangladesh

As a leading manufacturer of towels and owning a factory in Bangladesh we have the infrastructure to produce towels and textiles to suit everyone’s budgets. Our sister company award winning Clearance Textiles stock affordable towels they distribute to; discount stores, independent retailers, wholesalers and market traders.


 

Luxury towels make great gifts

If you every get stuck on buying a gift for a loved one, friend or a member of family, just remember that luxury towels make great presents.

The towels has a firm place on wedding lists, children leaving home and let’s not forget that new-born baby – all of whom need that extra bit of luxury.


 

How Victoria London can help you

If you are looking for luxury textile items and would like to order in large quantities then please do get in touch with us on 01634 719984

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Apprenticeship Schemes at Elsatex

Apprenticeship Scheme at Elsatex

As a company that advocates apprenticeship schemes in their business, Elsatex is delighted to announce that apprentice Abbie Thornton has completed her first year!

Being an award winning company we are committed to working with young talent and take great pleasure in helping our apprentices develop their skills and knowledge within a business environment. We have also seen that their work really does have an impact in the everyday life of the company.

Abbie joined Clearance Textiles nine months ago as a trainee Marketing Manager. She had previously spent two years at MidKent College completing her Extended Business Diploma and finished with an impressive two A’s and one A*. Abbie says she is having a great time with us and thinks the most rewarding part of her apprenticeship is the responsibilities we have given her.

Being part of a team

All of our apprentices are part of the team and we encourage them to use their own initiative and to share their knowledge, experiences and passions with us. Abbie is a keen designer and was delighted to be given the task to create a logo and packaging design for a new Clearance Textile product range.

The job has now been completed and the new product, which includes Abbie’s logo and packaging design, is now available to buy in shops. This is a prime example of how empowering young talent and letting them complete tasks independently can be rewarding to both the employee as well as the employer.

She describes her colleagues as generous and willing to do anything to help. This just goes to show that a good working environment will help to nurture apprentices. Clearance Textiles certainly deliver and also enjoy keeping on-going relationships with previous apprentices.

In her spare time Abbie enjoys meeting up with her friends and going for long walks with her beloved dog, Tilly. We look forward to seeing Abbie continue to shine and develop her skills within the company.

If you are looking for an apprenticeship and would like to work for Clearance Textiles, which is part of the Elsatex Group, please do let us know.

 

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Elsatex spring boards apprentice to fame!

Working with apprentices

It’s been just over a year since our apprentice Terri-Jane Harris left the Elsatex Group (including Clearance Textiles and Victoria London Textiles) to travel the world.  Now back from a carefully planned four months round-the-world trip, we caught up with Terri-Jane to find out more about her successful and growing business ‘Terri Towelling’ which supplies hairdressing towels to salons across the UK.

After finishing her studies at MidKent College in Gillingham in 2013, she joined the Elsatex Group as a marketing apprentice. Fresh from college, Terri-Jane brought with her a variety of ideas and new skills, all welcomed by the growing Elsatex team. These included implementing new marketing strategies such as flyers, email campaigns, website development, brand identity.  On joining the team Terri-Jane said “While some of my peers stayed on in education, or went to university, I felt training in the work environment would benefit my personality more than further academic learning”.

During her first year at Elsatex Terri-Jane continued to hone her marketing skills and in 2014 entered the prestigious Kent Excellence in Business Awards (KEiBA’S).   She entered the Apprentice of the Year category, and was delighted to be selected as one of three finalists to go through to the gala awards evening.  Unfortunately she didn’t win the Apprenticeship of the Year award, but her infectious enthusiasm and commitment gained her great recognition within the county.

Hairdressing Towels

With the travelling bug behind her for the time being, Terri-Jane has now taken back the lead at Terri Towelling, a company she set up while working at Elsatex.   The company is now growing from strength to strength and is currently selling over 3000 hairdressing towels a month!  The majority of sales are from her Ebay on-line store and the future sets to be bright for Terri-Jane.  With her confidence growing she is looking to add new ranges to her collection, and also working on ways to expand this niche but successful business.

As a leading supplier of hairdressing towels, the Elsatex Group are still very much part of Terri-Jane’s road to success.  We supply Terri Towelling with all its towelling requirements and will continue to develop new products for the hairdressing market.  We currently stock a number of colours that are appearing in salons across the UK, including; Hot Pink, Navy, Grey, Beige as well as the bleach proof range of towels.

We love working with Terri-Jane and hope this young entrepreneur continues to gain recognition within her field and look forward to partnering her in projects for many years to come.