North: Clothing firms axe 118 jobs

More than 100 textile job losses were announced today by two firms in the North.

Lingerie company Adria confirmed 65 redundancies at its operation in Strabane, Co Tyrone, just four months after it said it ws to shed 185 jobs.

Those losses came on top of 175 redundancies in March.

In a separate move, Glenaden Shirts said it would be making 53 staff redundant, a third of the workforce at its Derry operation.

Adria blamed difficult market conditions for the move and said the job losses will be in fine gauge knitting and dying.

The company said talks were ongoing with union and staff representatives but the redundancies were expected to have concluded by the end of February next year.

Glenaden Shirts said it had been forced to scale down its operation after the reduction in the order book of a key customer.

The company said, with 111 employees, it will still be the largest remaining shirt manufacturer in the UK.

Managing director Andrew Lowden said: “This is a very regrettable announcement.

“However, our commitment remains towards retaining a significant number of jobs in Derry and mitigating the projected job losses over the next two months wherever we can.

“The rest of the business is sound, with the potential to add to the customer base, so it is important that the cost structure and production capacity is brought down to the level which is sustainable.”

Sinn Féin economic spokesperson Mitchel McLaughlin said he was concerned at the failure to attract new jobs to the region.

The Foyle MLA said: “The news today of further job losses in the north west is obviously a severe blow to those workers immediately affected, particularly in the mouth of Christmas.

“But it will also have a critical impact on the economy of the north west.

“There have been numerous studies and consultations carried out at immense cost to plan the future regeneration of the north west region yet all we hear of is job losses.

“When are those tasked with attracting employment to the region going to deliver?

“I am calling on both governments to act with the utmost urgency to rectify the situation and reverse the haemorrhaging of jobs from this region."