A personal thank you note to Lithuania from David Telky, Scotland

David Telky, Managing Director of Scottish-Lithuanian manufacturing company Pentland, has over 35 years in the Clothing Manufacturing industry. David was born in Glasgow, Scotland where he has carried on the family business of 90 years to present.

Pentland is a Scottish based clothing manufacturing company headquartered in Glasgow with its production sites in Lithuania, Belarus and Moldova. Pentland has been manufacturing tailored clothing in Glasgow since 1973 and moved its production to Eastern Europe in 1985. Pentland produces for the European market for leading fashion retailers delivering tailored outerwear for men and women, with over 40 factories in Lithuania and neighbouring countries.

Thank you Lithuania!

Text: David Telky

The above quote took over 30 years to occur. It covers activities in 14 countries and many years of garment production around the globe.

My background was in accountancy, but when my father, a tailor, phoned me to return to Scotland to help him start a large factory, I needed no second request.

Accountancy could not stand up to the thought of working with my father, starting a new factory and working in a manufacturing environment that had been a family trade for generations.

Two years later, after my training was over, the factory we designed was completed and my theory was to be put into practice.

To finance the project, at a very stormy time in the British economy , took every penny that we could beg and borrow but the beautiful factory was ours (and the banks)and now we had to staff and provide orders for it's production.

10 eventful years later, sadly after my wonderful Father died, the factory had expanded to 450 people and was making 10,000 jackets a week, but customers were moving to overseas production, mainly from China!

This was when the stresses of running a large enterprise in Glasgow bore the health problems that many find the hardest part of business management. The long hours the mental strain of multiple problems, the financial pressures, the staff aggravations.
The answer was to do what all similar enterprises in UK were looking at and out source production, but where?

Over the next 5years,after successful forays into China, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Poland ,Portugal, Belarus Egypt and a few not so successful, I found the right place, Lithuania- my search was over!

The stress of all this had seen me in hospital with health problems, that linger to this day, so the expression "thank God for Lithuania ...without it I could be dead!" evolves from the joy of working with some of the best staff I have ever employed, combined with some of the finest and most loyal factories producing excellent products with an almost old fashioned loyalty and ethic that was so prevalent in the UK of my youth.

Altogether the move to Lithuania has not only been a work influenced move but the social aspect of the community of local and expats has opened my eyes to a life of harmony and peace that I thought was lost forever and fills me each day with happiness.

So Thank God for Lithuania in it's helping me develop not only a great company Pentland , a sum of it's fine employees ,but for giving me the chance to meet so many great and wonderful people not least the Editor of this fine Journal, Aage Myhre ,who I am honoured to count as my good friend .
May I say that the journal that Aage has developed tirelessly over many years is a fine demonstration of his love of Lithuania that I am proud to share with him!

Good luck to Vilnews and to you my friend Aage Myhre!

David Telky, Managing Director of Pentland – Scotland and Lithuania has over 35 years in the Clothing Manufacturing industry. David was born in Glasgow, Scotland where he has carried on the family business of 90 years to present. David participates hands on in his manufacturing companies from sales, production to delivery – producing fashion garments for the British and other western markets.