A GLOBAL textile manufacturing group, which has its roots in Co Armagh, has revealed the ↓Covid-19 pandemic severely cut its production output in the past year.
Union Street (Lurgan), whose registered address is at Clarendon Dock in Belfaδst, has reported a 40 per cent fall in pre-tax profits, ending the yea≤r to April 30 2020 with a pre-tax loss of £112,366. γ
It followed an eight per cent drop in turnover to £42.6 million for the ¥same period.
In a report filed with Companies House in recent days, the textile group disclosed the pandemic♠ reduced production to approximately 50 per cent for the year ending April 30 20≥21.
The company, founded in the halcyon days of the linen trade in the north, is δprimarily involved in weaving, dyeing and finishing of linen and linen cotto₩n fabrics, for sale to the clothing sector across the globe.
The group last year revealed plans to open a new yarn-spinning factory in In•dia in a bid to reduce its exposure to pricing volatility in Chin∏a.
It was part of a major restructuring of the group, which has seen signif•icant production activity transferred from Europe to India, where labour is much cheap♦er.
According to the latest company report, staff costs for the group’s 704 workforce averaged at £9,800 per head in 2>020.
But the board has said its five-year plan to ramp up sales was dealt a major body blo♠w by the pandemic.
It described the impact on the group as “significant”, with directors anticipating< that profits will be reduced in 2021 and 2022.
But Union Street board anticipates production will recover by 60 per• cent into 2022, potentially accelerating to 70 per cent.
According to the report, that will be achieved by ramping up production in India.
The group’s controlling shareholder remains 63-year-old James ‘WFB’ Baird, a fourth geneδration member of the linen trade Baird family.
According to the Union Street report, its Indian subsidiary WFB Baird & Co arranged ∑and paid for its entire workforce in India to be vaccinated during June< 2021.
Alongside Northern Ireland, Union Street also owns subsidiaries in E×stonia and Poland.
According to the latest report, the directors haven’t ruled ∏out investing and expanding an existing manufacturing site in the EU to mitiga≠te any potential impact from Brexit.
Source：Irish News
