175 jobs to go at NI textile company

Northern Ireland’s largest textile company today announced it was making 175 workers redundant after a “dramatic” drop in turnover.

Confirmation of the cut of more than 20% in the workforce was announced by hosiery company Adria in Strabane, Co Tyrone, and will be a major blow to a border town regularly hit by job losses.

The company, the largest supplier of hosiery products to troubled High Street store Marks & Spencer, is the latest in a long line of Northern Ireland textile companies to hit trouble in the face of cheaper foreign competition.

Adria management said it had decided the job losses were necessary following an urgent review of its business carried out over the past week.

“This is as a direct result of particularly harsh global trading conditions in the first financial quarter of this year and a dramatic reduction in turnover - down 25% on 2004 figures,” the company said in a statement.

Adria said it felt the cuts in their 790-strong workforce were necessary to “ensure the company can continue to face the future demands of the market place”.

The company has entered into a 90-day consultation period with unions to agree the details and timescale of the redundancies and regretted any uncertainty for employees during that period.

“Despite the current market conditions, Adria remains confident in its position, outlined to staff in January, that the company has a long term future in Strabane and will continue to be a significant employer in the area,” it said.

In staff briefings earlier in the year the company had outlined its belief that 2005 was “largely about ensuring survival within the global marketplace” with the prospect of a much more prosperous 2006 and beyond, it said.

Adria said it was working towards a sustainable future where Strabane would be a centre of excellence for its operations worldwide.

It warned that to achieve that it would have to continue to “review its overheads and improve efficiency where possible”. Reorganisation was expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of the year.

Apart from its position as a major Marks & Spencer supplier, Adria is also supplier to the Victoria’s Secret lingerie brand in North America.

The company shed 165 jobs in 2001, was taken over by a local consortium in June 2002, but continued to cut employment – 55 in September 2003 and 58 last July.