Lochaven International Ltd., Stewarton, have recently completed an order for 400 school jumpers, tank tops and cardigans - for Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And when the next Harry Potter^TM film, "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince", is released next year we will be able to see Harry, Ron and Hermione all sporting these Stewarton-made garments.

Lochaven have supplied the Hogwart's school jumpers for the Harry Potter films since the third film, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" and also supplied the 'retro' jumpers for the flashback scenes when Harry Potter's parents are seen at Hogwarts.

With three more films in the pipeline, Lochaven International Ltd. still have a lot of jumpers to make, yet this is only a small part of their business. Their main work is the manufacture of fabrics and garments for the outdoor market and they list National Geographic among their other big-name customers.

Lochaven is situated in the heart of Stewarton which has a history of felt making that dates back to as early as 1590. At Lochaven, the staff of 22 manufacture the felt from high quality wool, imported from Australia by a firm in Dalry. Lochaven's patented, soft felting technique is unique in the world of felting and took 20 years to be perfected. The result is a high loft fabric that is incredibly soft, has high warmth to weight ratio, water and wind resistant and naturally breathable, perfect for the all kinds of outdoor wear including walking, skiing, golfing or simply a stroll to the shops.

The company are working hard at promoting their genuine made in Scotland products and already have a good market in the USA but hope to expand in Scotland and world wide. This year they launched a new website www.lochaveninternational.com  allowing customers to order from them directly.

Right now they are preparing for a trip to Saltlake City, Utah, USA, for a trade show in January 2009. When I visited they were testing the waterproof qualities of their felt - a pool of water sat on a piece of fabric for the hour-long duration of my visit without soaking into the fabric at all. The company believe that this and the other natural properties of their pure wool fabric, 'Nature Fleece' will see its adoption as a new environmentally sound alternative to synthetic alternatives.

Lochaven International Ltd. are also proud of their particularly low carbon footprint. Once the raw material arrives in Scotland it travels only 9 miles from Dalry to their factory in Stewarton where the knitting, washing, cutting, linking and all aspects of garment assembly take place. Their website proudly tells us, "The quality of our garments is second to none and environmental cost is extremely low."