What are the big issues for textiles right now?
“The sector has proven to be very resilient during the current recession; this is due to good management, a good balance of products spread across a number of global markets. But the sector cannot stand still, with a rising cost base in Europe, improving skills and developing new profitable products quickly are vital. In the UK we have a shortfall in technically trained textile workers from senior management through to shop floor workers. So our emphasis is to develop additional workforce, give them new skills, encourage new product development and sourcing when companies buy overseas. Skills is a big issue: it’s about getting new entrants into the sector. The average age is 50 plus so there’s nobody to replace the MD’s when they want to retire. The other issue is trying to attract people to the industry given the competition.
