N Brown plan to revive UK rag trade
Homeshopping firm N Brown is calling a meeting of its clothing manufacturers as it considers making clothes in Britain rather than abroad.
New trend: Higher costs in Far East may push production back to UK.
N Brown, which sells about £700m of goods online and through catalogues, including SimplyBe and Fashion World, says it wants to look at the possibility of shifting production back home as costs in the Far East soar.
British factories could respond more rapidly to replenish fastselling, popular lines but most have closed their doors. Management expects more than 50 suppliers to attend the meeting in the executive suite at Leicester City football ground on February 10.
N Brown Group buying director Paul Short said: 'This will be a longterm project starting with a handful of key partners to test the water and then go forward from there.'
The rising cost of labour and commodities such as cotton over the past two years has forced up prices on the High Street by between five and 10% on last year. It has led some experts to herald the end of the era of cheap clothing.
'Chinese wage inflation has kicked in, oil prices are through the roof and freight costs are up,' said Short. 'All these things should have reduced the gap in the cost of production between Britain and overseas that has grown over the past two decades.'
Labour shortages have also made it more difficult for retailers to reorder popular products at short notice because factories are unwilling to accept anything but large orders.
Short said the initiative would allow the firm to replenish quickly. It would also allow it to test more products online and re-order when lines became popular.
The initiative has been driven by N Brown chairman David Alliance, who controls a third of the firm and who co-founded global textile giant Coats Viyella.
Most British-based suppliers now manufacture overseas, but there are still factories in areas such as Leicester, the North-West and London.
N Brown said it would make it clear to owners that it expected high standards after some small British factories were found last year to be under-paying workers.
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