Sacked Burberry workers protest at flagship store
Workers from a Burberry factory today protested outside the clothing firm’s flagship London stores in a bid to save almost 300 jobs.
Staff from the factory in Treorchy, south Wales, are angry at plans to move manufacturing to China.
Today they took their fight to the high street, staging demonstrations outside Burberry’s stores in New Bond Street and Regent Street.
They handed out flyers to shoppers and chanted: “Keep Burberry British.”
The 150-year-old fashion label plans to close the Treorchy factory in March leaving 280 out of work.
Protester David Rees, 62, who has worked at the factory for 47 years, said the closure would devastate the small, valley community.
“If Burberry move the work to China it will mean a lot of people will have to travel out of the area to work,” he said. “Some people might even be forced to move away from Treorchy.
“Burberry clearly think they can save money by doing this. But Burberry prides itself in being British through and through.
“That will no longer be the case before long when all the manufacturing work is carried out abroad.”
Burberry, famous for its recognisable check design, recorded a 22% profit increase last year taking total sales to more than £206m (€313m).
Yesterday Burberry’s chief finance officer Stacey Cartwright said the firm would donate the factory to the community once it was closed. She estimated this could raise £1m (€1.5m) and pledged to underwrite that amount.
