shoe producer, which makes footwear for industry giants

Romania the new Italy of manufacturing

Romania may not be a shopping destination for most fashionistas, but a sleepy town called Timisoara outside of Bucharest houses a factory, ModaTim, that has probably manufactured many of your wardrobe favourites. From Gieves & Hawkes to Jaeger and Reiss, ModaTim provides top notch tailoring for many of Britain's favourite fashion labels. The factory, which is family-managed by Ovidiu Sandor and his sister, believes that a “Made in Timisoara” label can rival the quality and craftsmanship of “Made in Italy,” or “Made in France.”

Many of the world's largest clothing companies have already cottoned on with Romanian manufacturing and conglomerates including H&M, Zara, Lacoste and Dolce & Gabbana have all shifted to producing clothes with Romanian factories. A growing demand for affordable and expertise manufacturing has helped turn Romania into one of the largest suppliers of clothing to its new EU partners, with exports worth more than 3.5bn euros (£2.4bn) a year.

Romania has a long tradition of supplying European clothing firms. Even during the Col d War years, ModaTim sold goods to Western Europe and the US, although that market diminished towards the end of the 1980s. Timisoara, meanwhile, has always had close links to Western Europe, thanks to its proximity to the Hungarian and Serbian borders, as well as its ethnic German, Hungarian and Serb minorities.

Whilst ModaTim's factory may be booming, figures showed that total Romanian textile exports declined between 2004 and 2005. Analysts are worried that this trend may continue into 2006 and 2007, as fashion firms look for cheaper markets and Asian producers close the quality gap with their European rivals. Some industry observers predict that EU membership and increased competition may lead to the closure of as many as a quarter of Romania's 8,000 clothing and garment companies.

www.modatim.ro
3 January 2007

UK sees rise in manufacturing sector

The UK's manufacturing sector has seen its most dramatic rise in output in almost a year, according to the BBC. March saw manufacturing levels increase by 0.7%, significantly higher than February's figure of -0.1%.

The figures were well ahead of expectations, and represented the biggest month-on-month rise in manufacturing output since April 2005.
"The growing evidence of significant recovery in the manufacturing sector will reinforce expectations that the next move in interest rates is up," said Howard Archer, an economist at Global Insight.
The figures come a day after The Bank of England issued its quarterly inflation projections, indicating that the UK would reach its 2% inflation target, assuming interest rates were raised slightly.
Many analysts are now saying any change to the interest rate is likely to be upwards, though when remains uncertain.

10 May 2006

SML aquires STR Gresham

The clothing label and tag maker SML Europe Limited has aquired STR Gresham, reports style.com. The acquisition will strengthen the companies' branding and packaging capabilities in the UK and Europe.

Following the acquisition, the new merged company will go by the name SML Gresham. Both businesses hope that the newly formed company will become a leader in data management coordination and printing of tickets, labels and packaging for the fashion apparel industry.

The new company will combine the strenght of STR Gresham's ability to process, print and deliver complex retail information via its order management system with SML Europe's position as one of the world's largest providers of woven labels and trims.

The SML Group Limited is based in Hong Kong and has service outlets in over 50 locations worldwide, nine of which are in Europe. SML Europe will move its team of 30 employees to the offices of STR Gresham at two sites in Corby and Market Harborough, to join the latter's team of 120 employees.

Managing Director Steve Ablett will head up the combined management teams. "We have the ability to deliver a complete supply chain from data management through to printing and the delivery of ticketing and labels anywhere in Europe, or the rest of the world."

www.sml.com
16 June 2005

Kashiyama buys Joseph

Japanese clothing manufacturer Onward Kashiyama Co. has bought British fashion house Joseph Group for an estimated GBP 140 million, according to Fibre2Fashion news service. Joseph Ettedgui, Joseph founder, said in a statement that the Compagnie Nationale a Portefeuille, which controls 57 per cent of the business, will purchase the rest of the shares.

Joseph has a presence of 63 stores in London, Tokyo, New York and Paris. It opened its first store on the King's Road in London in 1971. Department stores like Harvey Nichols and Harrods in London and the Bon Marché in Paris also carry the brand.

The Ettedgui family hold 18 per cent of Joseph's shares. The remainder is the hands of LVMH, with 10 per cent, and Power Financial with 5 per cent. Thierry Letrilliart, Joseph Managing Director, said that as it's men's wear partner in Japan, Onward Kashiyama was in the position to help the company expand significantly in the Far East.

In Japan, Onward Kashiyama has licensing agreements with Paul Smith and Michael Kors. Its own brands include ICB and Vanilla Confusion. Joseph ambassadress Elizabeth Hurley promoted the brand in Japan where sales rose 3 per cent, or a 3.6 per cent sale in like-for-like store sales.

The company reported that earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization climbed 34 per cent to GBP 13.3 million in 2004, as it reduced costs. The forecast for 2005 is optimistic, with retail sales looking up and the autumn wholesale order book up 12 per cent on last year.

www.joseph.com
18 May 2005

SR Gent closes UK production

The floundering clothing manufacturer SR Gent has been forced to shut down its production plant in Barnsley. Approximately 100 jobs have been lost as a result. The company was once a key supplier for clothing stores like Marks & Spencer and was one of the main employers in South Yorkshire. However, it has not been able to compete with increasing low-cost production from abroad.

It's most recent closure follows in a line of closures in Rotherham, South Kirkby and Sheffield and signifies the end of the company's UK manufacturing operations. The company's only remaining assets in the UK will be its warehouse and its distribution and processing sites. Singapore entrepreneur Ponnuswamy bought out SR Gent in 2003 when the company announced that it would be minimizing its UK factory base.

www.srgent.com
31 January 2005

Desmond & Sons to Close Factory

Desmond & Sons announced on Wednesday that it was closing its factory at Newbuildings, near Londonderry where 277 jobs will be lost. A cutting room at Springtown, Derry, where 16 people are employed, will also shut down.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the company blamed "significant competitive pressures" for its decision. "Pressures on margins, coupled with increased insurance, energy and social costs combine to pose immense challenges to Northern Ireland manufacturing," the company said.

"Despite our efforts to maintain as much employment locally as possible, the inevitable result of all these pressures is that products cease to be viable when made in Northern Ireland and must be produced overseas."Desmonds supplies Marks and Spencer and in the past has blamed cost pressures behind a decision to have many of its clothes made overseas.

In July, Desmonds' factory in Irvinestown, County Fermanagh, closed with the loss of 115 jobs. That closure followed the shutting down of the firm's plants in Omagh, County Tyrone, and Swatragh, County Londonderry, in June. Desmonds blamed a total of 500 jobs losses on foreign competition with work transferred to the company's overseas operations. Earlier this year, the firm announced that more than 300 jobs were to go at two other plants.

13 November 2003

Yue Yuen to venture into sportswear

Sports shoe giant Yue Yuen on Monday announced to have ambitious plans to move into the sportswear manufacturing market. The world's largest shoe producer, which makes footwear for industry giants such as Nike, Timberland, Adidas and Reebok, said its first sports apparel factory is expected to be built in China's southern Guangdong province.

Financial details for the proposed sportswear operation were not disclosed but Yue Yuen said said it has set aside between 150 million and 160 million USD to increase production lines and boost its materials business. Commenting on the sportswear announcement, managing director David Tsai said: "It complements our footwear business. We hope by this time next year, we would have some sportswear products coming out."

Yue Yuen's 254 production lines in factories in Vietnam, China and Indonesia churned out more than 130 million pairs of shoes last year as it posted a record profit of 228.5 million USD on turnover of 1.94 billion USD.