About us

This is who we are...

At Ceylon Heritage, we are passionate about high craftmanship and empowering rural women in Sri Lanka.

Provide employment

Ceylon Heritage is a social enterprise that give fairly paid, educative and flexible employment to hundreds of artisan rural women in Sri Lanka.

Create unique apparel​

Our female staff make exclusive knit apparel for the international yarn and apparel market, using regular to advanced knitting and crochet techniques by hand and hand needles.

Support families​

By becoming our customer, you are helping empowering rural women in Sri Lanka by supporting their families and avoiding migration from their local communities. 

Meet some of our knitters

Izathul Mumthas

Retired production Manager, still a dedicated knitter,
Employed since 1981

Malkanthi Fonseka

Center Leader – H1 center , Hunupitiya, Negambo,
Employed since 1981

Mareena Kahid

Center Leader – R1 center , Ratmalana,
Employed since 1981

A D Malkanthi

Knitter - R1 Center, Ratmalana
Employed since 1990

G K Siriyawathie

Knitter - P3 Center, Padukka
Employed since 2017

Our knitting centers

Ceylon Heritage has 14 knitting centers situated in four provinces of Sri Lanka. Our knitting centers are the daily workplace for our knitters and are managed by our center leaders. Today we employ 125 well experienced knitters, and a head office staff of 6 employees.

Western Province

Ratmalana Center (R1), in Mt.Lavinia, suburb of Colombo
Ragama Center (R2), in Ragama, suburb of Colombo
Koswatte Center (K1), in Battaramulla, suburb of Colombo
Kandana Center (K3), in Wattala, suburb of Colombo
Hunupitiya Center (H1), in Negombo
Panadura Center (PS), in Panadura
Pandukka Center (P3), Padukka

Southern Province

Betapola Center (B1), in Ambalangoda
Betapola South Center (B3), in Ambalangoda
Betapola North Center (B4), in Ambalangoda

Central Province

Kundasale Center (K6), in Geli Oya
Nuwara Eliya Center (NE), in Nuwara Eliya

Uwa Province

Bandarawela 1 Center (BW1), in Bandarawela
Bandarawela 2 Center (BW2), in Bandarawela

Meet our administrative team

The Ceylon Heritage administrative team in Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka, consists of financial and operatinal manager Uthpala Udayangani and her staff.

Fathima Shiffriya Nizam

Production manager

Tharanga Lasanthi

Quality controller
Employed since 2017

Jayawathie Kumarage

Quality controller
Employed since 2019

Ruwani Dilrukshi

Stores & Cum Asst. Quality
Employed since 2017

Diana Hemamali

Assistant Accountant
Employed since 2014

Susantha Kumara

Driver Cum Stores AssistanT
Employed since 2019

Meet our international team

The Ceylon Heritage team in Bergen, Norway, consists of Head of Board of Directors Sturle Harald Pedersen, his wife Anne Marie Fotland Pedersen and daughters Helene and Lise. Our common vision is to continue the original project purpose, being a social enterprise, generating hand knit training and employment of Sri Lankan rural women in their home villages, by providing knowledge in strategic management, new customer contact and innovation.

Anne Marie Fotland Pedersen

Sales coordinator - new sales

Sturle Harald Pedersen

CEO

Anne Marie is running the yarn&knit company Norwegian Spirit AS in Bergen, Norway, and is also working with new sales leads for Ceylon Heritage. She has broad experience in sales, marketing and product development from yarn and knitwear companies.

Tel: +47 481 23 799
E-mail: anne@norwegian-spirit.com

Sturle’s broad experience within international business development combined with his passionate relation to the social enterprise of Ceylon Heritage has been a key success factor for the enterprise continuing activity and stability today.


Tel: +47 952 47061
E-mail: sturle@norwegian-spirit.com

We would love to hear from you!​