A family-owned firm taking textiles to the next level welcomed a visit by the Princess Royal as it celebrated 40 years in business.

Princess Anne was given a guided tour of the sprawling Longroyd Bridge premises of award-winning SKA Textiles by managing director Zeb Pervaiz during her day-long visit to the town.

Watched by employees and invited guests, she unveiled a plaque marking the company’s 40th anniversary years before meeting members of the Pervaiz family and receiving gifts, including a woollen scarf made in Huddersfield. Zeb’s seven-year-old daughter Eiliyah also presented the princess with a bouquet.

Earlier, Princess Anne was shown a “timeline” occupying a wall of the company boardroom, which charts the history of the company from its formation by Zeb’s father, Khalid, in Dewsbury, its move to Commercial Mills in Firth Street in 1980 and its transfer to the current premises at St Thomas’ Road in 2013.

She also saw a Victorian loom and a knitting machine illustrating the industry’ heritage. before being given a guided tour of the company’s modern dyeing, finishing and knitting departments where she spoke to employees including qualty controller Akhlaq Ahmad and his colleagues Mohammad Javid and Mohammad Taj.

She heard how the company’s multi-million pound investment in the lastest machinery has contributed to SKA becoming a major supplier of knitted fabrics for products as diverse as ladies jackets, tops, skirts and dresses, car seats and contract upholstery for office chairs and screens.

Equipment in operation includes the longest and widest finishing line in Europe – representing a £1m investment – which also allows the fabric to be treated as required with softeners, resins or waterproofing.

The princess was shown samples of fabrics for customers who include fashion retailers Arcadia Group, Debenhams. Wallis and M&S. as well as a number of finished garments. She also shown keen interest in the precision work of the firm’s colour matching and fabric testing laboratories.

The royal visit caps the celebrations surrounding the firm’s 40th anniversary. Last November, Zeb’s achievements in building up the family firm saw him win the title of Business Person of the Year at the 2014 Examiner Business Awards.

Zeb said the royal visit was a great morale booster for the firm’s 47-strong staff as the company plots a strategy to increase its involvement in advanced and technical textiles.

“All the staff were really up for the royal visit,” he said. “A lot of the workforce have been with us for 20 years or more and there is a great sense of belonging,” he said. “We are a family business in every sense of the phrase and we have a great team behind us.

“The best thing is that ours is a product made in Huddersfield. We also try to use local firms for the things we need, such as bearings, tooling and parts of our machines.”

SKA is now looking to develop products for niche markets such as fabrics which can be used to “stiffen” aircraft fuselages – as well as continuing to serve its establshed customers in retailing and office furniture.

Its expertise in knitting, dyeing and finishing have enabled the firm to compete with imports on price, quality and speed as well as supplying special yarns.

Zeb, who was introduced to the world of textiles as a youngster spending his spare time with his father and grandfather on the factory floor of the family-run business, said the company was also anxious to recruit young people into the industry as part of efforts to put Huddersfield at the heart of a textile renaissance.

“Textiles is now a very technical industry,” he said. “The key is in research and development and performance textiles.”