KINROSS cashmere firm Todd and Duncan have been sold to a Chinese company in a deal management hope will secure the immediate future of the 140-year-old yarn spinner.
Staff at the company's plant at Loch Leven have been working a three day week for the past month as a result of a slump in demand for the company's luxury yarn.
And in March, Mid-Scotland and Fife MSP Elizabeth Smith held talks with management at
Todd and Duncan and local councillors amid concern for the future of the firm's 205 workers.
But James McArdle, Todd & Duncan managing director, said the sale of company to Chinese group Zhongyin had now "steadied the ship."
He said: "Its great news for the workforce and it's good news for the future of the company. The deal still has to complete but at least the exchange of contracts has happened.
"It puts a floor underneath us and the new owners will have taken out a five year lease on the site which gives us a level of security that underpins the business. We had to move to a three-day week after having already reduced to four.
"This deal doesn't mean we are back to working a five-day week but it has steadied the ship and send out a strong message to our customers that we are still going to be around.
"It removes the question mark against us that perhaps some people were keen to emphasise."
And the sale of the company has also been welcomed by MSP Liz Smith who called on the Scottish Government to help the troubled textile industry.
"I hope that the sale will provide an opportunity to take forward the company and provide job security for the 205 employees, their families and the local community.
"The highly-skilled workforce based at Kinross Mill, as well as the strategic site, provide a great opportunity for the new company to develop the business and I hope that they will go from strength to strength.
''Many small businesses in Kinross-shire benefit from supplying the workforce and the mill and I hope that this will provide support for them during the recession.
"I believe it is vital that the Scottish Government acts to help stimulate the textile industry and encourage consumers across Scotland and the United Kingdom to buy its products, especially those which are made in this country."
Todd & Duncan is the UK's biggest cashmere spinner whose specialist 228 yarn is used by high-end fashion brands such as Hermes and Dolce and Gabbana.
The company gained a reputation for their fast-knit yarn and dyeing technology which enables them to turn around orders and respond to customers in matter of days.
