Our People

Acorn is run by the founder John Chatburn and his sons Chris and James. If they can’t help you with all their years of experience no one can!

Generations Of Quality

Based in the traditional heartland of Britain's textile industry, Acorn Fabrics is bringing more than a touch of dynamism back to this historic area of Lancashire, with its vistas of Victorian mills and rugged scenery. In fact the Chatburn family, proprietors of Acorn, can point to a tradition in textiles dating back more than one hundred years and spanning four generations.

John – Owner, Director & Classic car enthusiast

The Patriarch of the team, John has had a history in textiles dating back to the early 1960’s. John and his father, Richard Arthur, started Acorn fabrics back in 1975 after accumulating a wealth of knowledge and experience running a local textile mill. When John is not working (very rarely!) he enjoys tinkering with and driving his 1960 iris blue MGA. John runs the business with his two sons, Chris and James.

Chris – Owner, Director & Cyclist

Eldest son, Chris joined the firm professionally back in 1995 after completing his degree in Accounting & Finance and a diploma in Textile Science. Chris loves the creative side of the business and is often found taking pictures of the fabrics for the Acorn social media machine. After clocking off, Chris loves to take to two wheels and explore the local beauty of Pendle and its environs.

James – Owner, Director & Badminton player

Youngest son, James has been involved with the business for over fifteen years. James studied Business and I.T. at Leeds and both disciplines are employed daily as he overseas many aspects of the operation including distribution and website content & development. Outside of work, James has been an active member of a local badminton club who, not only play regularly but also enjoy post-match real ales regularly too!

We're Rated Excellent

Acorn Fabrics Cumbria Ltd

5.0

Based on 6 reviews

review us on

Henrique Barbone

22:13 17 Dec 21

Acorn Fabrics is one of the only shirting mills that engages with and sells directly to end customers. Aside from this, the quality of their fabrics is on par with the likes of Thomas Mason and other big players in the market. Their collection has some uniquely interesting colours and patterns such as a red striped heavy Oxford (my shirtmaker in Naples couldn't find a similar fabric from any other mill) or the cotton-linen Aruba denim. Having browsed through shirting swatches from many other mills, I also think that Acorn has the best collection of Tattersall shirtings anywhere. I've taken several of Acorn's fabrics to Naples with me and had them made into beautiful shirts.

Martino Bacile di Castiglione

13:10 02 Mar 19

sal b

06:09 17 Oct 17

My Acorn fabrics arrived in Sydney today - including the Malham 280 royal. The staff at Acorn are professional and generous, and head an extraordinary company with excellent quality cloth. I feel blessed to have discovered them and will definitely look forward to using them again in future. Sal B in Sydney

Jamie Campbell

21:41 31 Jul 17

I can't praise Acorn Fabrics highly enough. A wonderful company, I didn't think such companies still existed. Five stars are just not enough!

Tim Jones

08:28 14 Jun 17

I have always found Acorn Fabrics to be a splendid company. Their product is of the highest quality, offered across a wide, comprehensive range of fabrics and colours and the 'team' are both veryfriendly and extremely efficient. It is a pleasure to do business with them.