Coleg Sir Gar

Coleg Sir Gar has built up a reputation within the garment and textile industry for its commitment to the support and development of both small and large companies through a variety of business support, research and development and numerous other projects.

These activities have generated out of the fashion department at the college, which provides fashion routes in both further and higher education. The department has always worked closely with industry through live projects, industry visits, work placements etc, which led to the strong relationship between the department and the garment and textile sector within Wales.

As many areas within Wales have a GDP lower than that of the average within Europe this opened up opportunities for the college to draw down European funding to enable the development of ‘projects’ which focused upon the needs of the garment and textile industry within Wales.

The first project of this type was founded back in 1993, The Design Bureau. The aim of the Design Bureau was to introduce companies to new technologies through the provision of services such as; CAD for knit design, weave design, carpet and cross stitch design, texture mapping, colour separation, AutoCAD and many other areas.

At the same time the college also had incubator units which young and new start up companies could use as work bases and a machinist training unit was set up for women returners.

Following on from this project in 1995 the college carried out a feasibility study, which researched the need for a forum for textile and textile, related industries within Wales. The study proved there was a need but lack of funding prevented the development of the forum, which now many years later is being researched, again with the support of the Welsh Development Agency (WDA) with the hope that the funding will be secured.

The Product Innovation Network or PIN project linked the college with other training providers, the WDA, Training and Enterprise Council, Enterprise Agencies, County Councils and industry,. The project aimed to help manufacturing companies within rural and industrial South Wales through the provision of business support.

In 1995 the college was approached by Bremen University in Germany to take part in a Leonardo project which offered 10 companies within Wales the opportunity to pilot software (COAT) which allowed small companies access to affordable technology for pattern cutting and business management. Companies were also provided with hardware through links with another distance learning project the college was involved in.

In 1999 the Wales Ireland Network fashion (WIN fashion) project funded by INTERREG was developed in partnership with the Irish Fashion Industry Federation (IFIF). The Welsh Development Agency also provided funding for the project which assisted six Welsh and six Irish companies through a series of business related workshops and events with the culmination of a trade fair in which the companies exhibited.

Through the work carried out on the WIN fashion project networking was highlighted as being particularly successful in the development of the businesses. From this the idea for the CONTACT-Wales (Companies Online Network for The Clothing and Textile Trade) website emerged, enabling many more companies within Wales to benefit from networking together. The information gained through the website which was also funded through the Knowledge Exploitation Fund (KEF) and the WDA led to the publication of a framework document for the garment and textile industry in Wales which in turn has reiterated the need for the Textile Forum Wales.

The identified need for small companies to access industry specific CAD/CAM lead to the creation of the Shared Technology Resource Centre in 2002 funded by the Knowledge Exploitation Fund (KEF). The centre hosts state of the art Gerber Technology Artworks and Accumark for design and pattern cutting. The centre provides companies with free one to one support on any specific area from pattern grading, weave design, texture mapping and a variety of design areas. The centre also offers a bureau service for companies outside of Wales.

Coleg Sir Gar and the Irish Fashion Industry Federation have come together again through the INTERREG IIIa funded, GAIN (Generating Activity Through International Networking) project. The project aims to support 12 Small to medium sized companies and 24 would be entrepreneurs through a programme of business support.

Through the knowledge and expertise the college has developed and the strong partnerships (Skillfast-UK, Design Wales, Careers Wales, WDA, Wales Trade International and many others) created from the involvement in the above projects Coleg Sir Gar has played a key role in the development of the Strategic Action Plan for the Textile Forum Wales, which now has been presented, to the Welsh Assembly Government for consideration.