CARPETS and floor-coverings group Gaskell has seen profits rocket.

The Clayton-le-Moors based firm saw pre-tax profits rise to £1.24 million for the first half of 1997 - almost four times the figure for the same period last year.

Chairman Edward Andrew said cost-saving initiatives and improved productivity had led to the higher profit figures.

The firm's carpet time and underlay subsidiary, Gaskell Textiles which operates mills at Bacup and Oswaldtwistle, saw a ten per cent rise in turnover to almost £11 million.

New products have been introduced and recent orders have included one to carpet part of the Scottish Widows new headquarters in Edinburgh.

Overall, the group saw sales increase by nine per cent to just over £23 million with growth in all its divisions.

The Gaskell Carpets arm improved sales by eight per cent to £8 million and three new ranges will be launched soon.

Shareholders will receive an interim dividend of 2.4 p a share, increased by 50 per cent over last year.

Dowding & Mills, parent company of Bacup-based Bootham engineers reported record profits for the year to June 30.

Pre-tax profits rose to £14.37 million, up by more than 17 per cent.

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