Images_Digital_Edition_March_2020

www.images-magazine.com MARCH 2020 images 23 INDUSTRY ISSUE The coronavirus: how is it affecting the UK garment industry? coming from China, Result Clothing’s forward planning has also buffered the company from the outbreak. “Result has been running at 65% higher stock holdings than usual because of Brexit, which has not been needed, so this means that we still have 55% more [stock] than 12 months ago,” reports managing director David Sanders-Smith. “Therefore, we will not have many issues with Chinese factories running about one month late with planned new stock supplies to us. At the moment, specials may be affected with a one-month delay. “We are glad to report that we are advised that no workers over the 14 main factories spread around China that supply us [none of which are in Wuhan] have contracted the virus, and they and their families are safe and well. “Most office workers have now resumed work – all have been given face masks and have a temperature test when they arrive at work each day. But, due to continued restrictions of movement of people in China, only about 20% of the production workers have been able to return as of today [10 February]. In general, we hope that all will be back by the end of February. Leo Workwear issued a statement on 7 February, saying that the company is “assessing the potential interruptions to our supply and delivery of garments”. It added: “Although our factories have everything in place to resume O n 31 December 2019, Chinese public health officials first informed the World Health Organisation (WHO) of cases of coronavirus in the city of Wuhan. Since then, more than 55,000 people are known to have been infected and more than 1,380 have died. Chinese authorities extended the Lunar New Year holidays in an attempt to contain the virus, which meant factories remained shut until 10 February at the earliest. The Chinese New Year holiday, which fell on 25 January this year, is always a time of great migration across China as millions of workers go home to celebrate with their families. Brands plan for this period of closure, and the extended shutdown for many will be manageable, believes Joel Chadwick, managing director of Chadwick Textiles. “Speaking to all Chadwick’s key suppliers, as well as seeking reassurance from our very own China office on the ground locally with its dedicated full-time team of six in the Fujian province (south-east China), things seem to have been impacted a lot less so far [than in Wuhan]. Fortunately, Chadwick’s annual pre-Chinese New Year planning means that stock levels and continuity are strong. If, like Chadwick, companies have prepared correctly since last year in advance of the holidays anyway, then it should be business as usual short term.” Despite 65% of its production How will the shutdown of factories and the implementation of travel restrictions due to the outbreak of the coronavirus in China affect the UK garment decoration industry, and should we be concerned? Images talks to UK garment brands to find out about the impact to date and the implications for future supply production, there will undoubtedly be additional delays from component suppliers and transportation. We will keep you advised on any special production or stock delays. “To mitigate our reliance on any single country we have, for a number of years now, dual- sourced product and we hope that the supplies from outside of China can proceed uninterrupted. We will be putting additional orders on these alternative sources to help maintain our supply lines. “With over 900,000 garments in stock and plenty of containers scheduled to dock in the next 28 days we expect to maintain the levels on our extensive range of products. Should any product line or size move into a ‘stock-out’ position, we are confident we will have another suitable garment that meets the required classification and standard.” Joel Chadwick points out that China is “an incomparable one-stop shop” for the garment industry. “The resources and service industries for garments is far more developed than in most other Asian countries put together so we must rely on the WHO and the Chinese government to solve the matter urgently. China is still the world’s factory – the potential impact on the global economy, not just in garments, is not worth thinking about if things get worse,” concludes Joel. IS