The parent company of Ayr-based cashmere producer Alex Begg & Co has chosen to consolidate its activities in Scotland and has appointed Glasgow-based French Duncan as its auditors. Alex Begg & Co started producing handspun shawls in Paisley in 1859. Today the company has annual sales of £5.5m, of which 80% are exported. The US is its biggest market with its products featuring in the Dressed to Kilt event during New York's Tartan Week in April. The company's parent group Yorklyde recently chose to relocate its business from Yorkshire and consolidate its activities in Ayrshire. At the same time it also decided it would make sense to appoint a firm of auditors closer to its new home. Alex Begg & Co's managing director David Breckenridge said: "We began a process of considering various firms in Scotland, including a Big Four firm and some smaller practices, and were most impressed by French Duncan's presentation and credentials. With French Duncan we're getting a level of personal service which is really quite important from the point of view of how we operate - we're getting close attention to detail when and where it matters." Robert Kerr, above, French Duncan's managing partner, said: "Naturally we're delighted to have been able to add to our clients' portfolio a group which includes a famous-name Scottish firm synonymous with the last word in luxury goods." Yorklyde and its subsidiaries produce a wide range of cloths, accessories and high-specification fabrics, including fabric for airliner seats. In 2002 the company announced plans to close a plant at Langholm in the Scottish Borders and cut 30 jobs as it sought to recover from "one of the most unpredictable" years in its history.