Montane has seen sales rise consistently in recent years. Photo: Alex Buisse

Outdoor brand Montane is celebrating after announcing it will incorporate Gore-Tex materials into its products.

The north-east company is the first UK-based technical outdoor clothing and gear firm to receive a Gore licence for more than a decade.

Montane’s new Gore-Tex range will hit the market in the upcoming autumn-winter 2016 season.

The company’s brand director Jonathan Petty said, “Our new performance range of products featuring Gore-Tex fabrics will spearhead the company’s growth plans over the coming seasons.

“Montane is already enjoying a consistent 20 per cent year-on-year average growth rate and the addition of Gore-Tex into our collection will help propel further growth around the globe.”

The Ashington-based brand has appointed Newcastle upon Tyne agency Karol Marketing to represent it in the UK. Mr Petty said: “The team at Karol Marketing have one of the best reputations in the industry and are extremely well placed to help take the Montane brand to the next level.”

Karol Marketing’s founder and managing director Stefan Lepkowski said: “We are thrilled to be working with Montane. I have personally watched this youthful, high-energy brand grow and develop over the last five years and it fits in perfectly with Karol’s track record of identifying the best names in the industry to work with.

“We like to work with businesses that have a real story to tell. Montane’s new Gore-Tex collection and its high adrenaline ‘Further. Faster.’ philosophy gives us a powerful cocktail of messages to communicate to both existing and new audiences.”

Among Karol’s other clients are outdoor brands Vango, Bergans of Norway, Force Ten and Powertraveller.

Karol said Montane’s partnership with Gore-Tex and corresponding ‘Engineered for Performance’ campaign is intended to raise wider consumer awareness of its credentials, which include making the lightest, most technical clothing and equipment on the market for endurance sports and activities in extreme environments.

WL Gore & Associates is best known for its range of waterproof fabrics based on PTFE membranes. The Delaware-based company has factories across the world, including a manufacturing plant in Livingston, West Lothian.