Burberry to axe almost 300 jobs
A sewing facility owned by clothing brand Burberry is to close as part a restructuring set to cost up to 290 jobs, the company has announced.
Burberry said it planned to shut the plant in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, which sews basic outerwear for the label, with the loss of up to 170 jobs.
Further UK staff whose work relates to the Rotherham factory could also lose their jobs, but the company's base in Blyth, Northumberland, is said to be unaffected.
Burberry, which employs 2,000 staff in the UK, said production would be consolidated at its other Yorkshire factory in Castleford, adding it had no plans to leave the UK.
In 2006 Burberry announced the closure of its factory in the Rhondda Valley in South Wales, which employed 300 people. The move prompted a celebrity-backed union campaign but the closure went ahead.
Tim Roache, regional officer of the GMB union, said: ``This is very bad news for Rotherham. We will want to have a thorough discussion with Burberry on the logic of this rationalisation before we are able to move forward.
