The company was originally established to provide jobs on the island for servicemen returning from the Second World War. They initially laid down arms to take up weaving cloth for the fashion industry, but by the 1970s were FOCUSSED ON SEATING RATHER THAN SILHOUETTES. Bute was making special orders for the big names of office furniture, Steelcase and Herman Miller. By the 1980s the OUTPUT of its small but superbly equipped mill was exported AS FAR AWAY AS AUSTRALIA, JAPAN and South America.