22nd May 2017

When it comes to apparel-making in Britain, there's one thing we all think we know: there isn't very much of it. But Britain's official trade statistics seem to tell a...

6th April 2016

Despite years of widely denied decline, British garment-making showed serious signs of a revival in the second half of 2015. There's a touching annual ritual in our trade, which goes...

3rd April 2015

In the April 3 Sourcing Journal Online, I look at the continuing fall in US apparel making jobs. However much hype gets generated about the alleged onshoring boom, jobs in...

25th March 2015

Wage fraud suddenly seems rampant in the UK apparel industry. Or is it? The UK government announced on March 24 that 48 employers - including French Connection and Foot Locker...

21st February 2015

Barrie Knitwear in Hawick, Scotland, announced on February 20 it would increase its workers by 25% over the next two years. Though this means just 60 new jobs, it also...

19th February 2015

The majority of garment workers in Britain's East Midlands -  focus of much new UK apparel manufacturing - are paid less than half the country's minimum wage, an academic study...

15th February 2015

The UK government published its consultation document on February 15 for the reporting requirement under its Modern Slavery Bill. The Bill is expected to become law in early May, but...

12th February 2015

The UK government announced a 50% increase in its funding of a textiles industry development fund on February 12 after a two-year survey estimated a 23% increase in jobs by...

8th December 2013

In the latest data available, UK apparel manufacturing jobs grew in 2013 on 2012, but official data seems to show production fell. In the US, precisely the opposite happened: jobs...

30th November 2013

Though employment in UK garment making grew faster between mid-2012 and mid 2013 than anywhere else in the West, other data points in very different directions. People employed Official numbers show...