Knitwear firm Jaeger folds

THE clothing company that was once Campbeltown’s largest employer has collapsed into administration, 16 years after its Kintyre factory folded.

Nearly 700 jobs will go after directors at fashion retailer Jaeger failed to find a buyer to keep its 46 stores open.

The company, an icon of the swinging sixties under fashion designer Jean Muir CBE, has struggled with falling sales and high street competition for years.

Jaeger has not made a profit since it was bought by private equity limited liability partnership Better Capital for £19.5m in 2012.

Former Campbeltown provost George McMillan, 86, while sorry for Jaeger’s current employees, said: ‘I am quite pleased Jaeger has finally failed.

‘They took everything from Campbeltown – as well as the 161 jobs, all the equipment was shipped to Tunisia. It was devastating.’

Dating back to 1884, the clothier dressed royalty, celebrities and Arctic explorers, but was unable to find a buyer at the suggested price of £30m, so administrators at Alix Partners were called in.

When the Campbeltown factory sewed its final stitch in 2001, 161 jobs were lost at a time when unemployment in Kintyre was the highest in Argyll and Bute.

Described at the time as ‘a total tragedy for Campbeltown’, the factory closed as production moved abroad.

A Jaeger spokesperson said at the time: ‘There is increasing pressure and competitiveness on the high street.

‘We have concluded that we can no longer produce clothing at an economically viable cost at Campbeltown at its current scale compared to other locations overseas.’

Now it seems the company’s fate is similarly dire.

Peter Saville, joint administrator, said: ‘Regrettably, despite an extensive sales process, it has not been possible to identify a purchaser for the business. Our focus now is in identifying an appropriate route forward and to work with all stakeholders to do this.’

Last week Jaeger’s debt was sold to a company understood to be controlled by the retail billionaire Philip Day, who heads Edinburgh Woollen Mill (EWM).

It is likely that all of Jaeger’s stores will close, but insiders expect the brand to survive as part of the EWM group, which includes Jane Norman, Peacocks and Austin Reed.