STITCHED UP...
How rogue suppliers are threatening a big UK fashion revival
RETAILERS could be exposed to British factories exploiting workers because many ‘don’t have a clue’ where their clothes are being made, an investigation by The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
British manufacturers are seeing an explosion in demand from high street and online retailers selling fast fashion, but there are fears that this has led to a growth in rogue operators as well as legitimate ones.
There are thought to be more than 100 clothes factories in Leicester, which has seen rapid growth in manufacturing. Many are stepping up production and opening new facilities.
Online retailers such as boohoo, Missguided, Misspap and In The Style are soaking up demand. Some are sourcing more than half their clothes in Britain. High street giants are also desperate to access production.
But the rapid rise in demand, which means retailers can replenish fast-selling styles in days rather than weeks or months when buying from Asia, means shops are at risk of buying from unscrupulous factories.
‘Seven years ago this industry was dying. Workers were leaving the factories and getting jobs in warehouses, supermarkets or whatever they could find. But since then it has grown dramatically. The biggest worry now is the labour,’ said Steve Goodwin, managing director at FG4, the international clothing business owned by Next founder George Davies.
THE shortage of staff is encouraging some firms to take on large numbers of inexperienced employees, then cutting corners to compete on sharp prices demanded by retailers. Asos and New Look recently warned in evidence to the Human Rights Select Committee of MPs that the renaissance of British clothing manufacture could be ‘fatally derailed’ by rogue operators.
‘The need for speed is where this resurgence has come from,’ said Goodwin. ‘ Some factories won’t
have a problem because they pay their staff properly. But with others, it’s questions like: “Are they going through the books? Is the building insured?” ’
He said retailers using UK factories often use third-party agents to buy the clothes. In many cases, the retailers themselves never visit the factories. ‘Ninety per cent of retailers don’t have a clue who is stitching their clothes,’ he said.
Goodwin’ s business, which directly employs experienced staff to monitor production, makes 25 per cent of its womenswear in British factories now compared with less than 5 per cent four years ago.
Most of the clothes are sold in ‘FG4 by George Davies’-branded stores in the Middle East. They are also in talks with possible Chinese partners.
Factory sources confirmed that Asos is taking action locally in Leicester to set benchmarks for standards. River Island too is ‘going out of its way’ to make sure factories behave properly and sweatshops do not proliferate, said one.
Davies, who also set up George at Asda and built Marks & Spencer’s Per Una business, said he has always had a link to the town, where he used to come to visit factories as a buyer for Littlewoods stores in the 1960s.
Last week, he made a £5 million donation to Glenfield vascular clinic after his mother developed circulatory problems and he regularly visits factories in the city, which is just an hour from his office in More ton-in-Marsh , Gloucestershire.
He said: ‘My busi- ness has always been hands on. We have quality people working for us, we know the factories, we know the fire regulations, all these things. As a retailer you also have to be vigilant, but my view is that it’s the same in Bangladesh or any place you are making clothes – we should support these places and work closely with them.’ Leicester manufacturers are benefiting from the boom. First Jiam, a Davies supplier, is a family-run warehouse about t hree miles f r om the city cent r e, where the owners recently upgraded to a larger 50,000 sq ft facility to cope with rising demand. Staff numbers have increased by about 30 per cent since the beginning of last year.
One supplier, who runs a business in Leicester with his brother, said of the city: ‘There is a lot of expertise here and innovation. But until the stores commit and say, “Come on, we’re going to support this”, it isn’t going to happen in the way it should.’
Quick Choice, another supplier to FG4, recently acquired a large city centre warehouse from a rival. It makes fabrics and has increased its £20,000 knitting machines from 30 to 50 in the past two years.
Factory owners say many retailers used to the cheap labour at factories in Bangladesh struggle to stomach the cost of home production, despite the obvious benefits.
The supplier said retailers can also move to other supply sources at the drop of a hat, even when factories have invested tens of thousands to cope with new volumes and design requirements.
He added: ‘I do hope it doesn’t go away again for the industry because I don’t know what half the people in Leicester would do if it did.’