IRELAND: Market Pressure Blamed For Textile Factory Closure

The demise of a former Courtaulds textile factory in Ireland has come about as a knock-on effect of changes forced on UK garment retailers in recent years. The Lurgan plant, which is due to close next month with the loss of 140 jobs, manufactured fabric for M&S's leisurewear lines. Refuting claims that M&S had been solely to blame for the closure, David Hillcoat, a former director of Courtaulds Textiles, said that the structure of UK retailing had changed over the last few years, with a number of new entrants offering different value propositions. This, in turn, had exerted pressure on the traditional retailers such as Marks & Spencer.