A maker of table skirting and conference cloths which supplies its products to the Ritz in Madrid and Gordon Ramsay's restaurants will celebrate its 25th anniversary on Friday (Feb 2nd).

Snap-Drape was set up in the garage of founder Peter Graville and now sends items to the the Crillon restaurant in Paris and the Bora Bora Lagoon Hotel in Tahiti.

He and his wife Vivien launched the company with #3,000 of savings at their home in Cheam, Surrey, in 1982.

Mr Graville decided to set up the company after his work with a furniture contractor helped him recognise the potential for table skirting and conference cloths in the European hospitality industry.

Whereas hotel staff spent time pinning linen into pleats to dress banqueting tables, table skirting – ready-pleated fabric that attaches to the table edge by means of plastic clips – can do the same job in seconds.

Mr Graville saw similar potential for a washable cloth to replace the ubiquitous green baize formerly used on conference tables.

He said: "From my days in contract furnishing, I found that places like the Grosvenor House Hotel in London were spending #35,000 a year on table skirting and cloths and throw them away each function.

"Ours keep clean. Our products are double-sided so they can be turned over, and are also washable, so there is less need to keep replacing them."

The company now exports around 60 per cent of its products to continental Europe, Africa and the Far East. Recent orders include a contract to supply the Rome Marriott, the largest convention hotel in Europe (capacity 7,000 delegates), with 1,000 fitted conference covers and 2,000 chair covers.

Closer to home, Snap-Drape's products are used at the NIA and NEC, the Crown Plaza and Midland Hotels in Birmingham, the Motorcycle Museum, at Jaguar Cars, and Aston Villa FC.

The company began manufacturing in Tenbury Wells, before moving to a site at the Southern Industrial Estate in Leominster in 1992.

It moved to a purpose-built unit on the same industrial park in 1994, and has continued to manufacture and design new products.

Snap-Drape, which employs 37 people, further diversified into lightweight aluminium banqueting furniture in 1994 – it is also manufactured in the UK as Forbes Furniture.

Part of the Rome Marriott order included 1,740 tables – enough to stretch more than twice the length of Broad Street, Birmingham.

Mr Graville attributed the company's longevity to careful attention to the needs of its customers, while constantly working on new products and designs.

He said: "We are frequently asked to find new solutions to satisfy the requirements of the changing hospitality industry. We are always designing new products and using new materials. We are always moving forwards."

As part of this has recently developed new skirting that attaches to tables without Snap-Drape's familiar clips.

He said: "It is not as flexible as the original system, but is very easy to use, and fulfils the requirements of many of our clients."

Business is so brisk that celebrations to mark the anniversary have been put back to later in the year.

"The business is going well at the moment. The past 25 years have been challenging, but we have enjoyed it.

"My wife and I will probably open a bottle of Champagne to celebrate, and we will do something with the staff when the weather is better."