British firm Clarks to move all production abroad including India

Thursday, 13 January 2005, 20:30 IST
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LONDON: After 175 years of manufacturing in Britain, one of its best known brands, footwear major Clarks, has announced that it will shut its last surviving shoe factory in April and move all production abroad. Outsourcing to cheaper destinations such as India has marked the end of an era for the country's best-known footwear firm. Clarks started moving production overseas 15 years ago to countries including China, Romania and India. Up to 90 staff members will lose their jobs as production shifts from Ilminister in Somerset to cheaper factories in the Far East. The family said the move was essential for the company's survival. Spokesperson John Keery said: "There's been a series of changes that have been pretty inevitable. The cost of manufacturing in the UK has soared, and we have been able to source our shoes cheaper in the Far East." But unions and employees - many of whose families have worked for Clarks for generations - said it marked the end of an era. Said Terry Meakin, spokesperson for the shoe industry union KFAT: "It is a very sad day. We are working with the company on initiatives for retraining and support, but this is in a sense the end of a community. "I have been faced with this situation a number of times in the past and here we are faced with the closure of the last Clarks factory and in fact the end of manufacturing of Clarks." Said Peter Andrews, 68, a member of Mendip district council in Somerset: "I worked for Clarks for 44 years, my father worked for the firm for 51 years, as did all his brothers and sisters, and his father before him. I feel sad at the closure but it was inevitable." Clarks has long held its place as Britain's best-known footwear shop and is famed for its sensible shoes. In the 1990s, it even enjoyed fashion status when its desert boots and Wallabee moccasins were worn by Britpop acts such as Oasis and Blur. The firm's history goes back to 1825 when Cyrus Clark began tanning sheepskin rugs in Street, Somerset, where the company still has its headquarters.
Source: IANS