Barbour country clothing closes knitwear plant.

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Lovers of country clothing were left aghast last week with the announcement that J Barbour & Sons were to close their factory at Galashiels with the subsequent loss of 46 jobs.

Unite union regional industrial organiser summed up the feelings of the workers, saying: “In the end there was no love lost with Barbour and the workforce wanted to draw a line under the way they felt they had been treated.”

However, it appears all was not as clear cut as it seemed, as the group finance director of Barbour said the decision to close was actually pushed by the union. She said: “I can confidently say that no pressure whatsoever was placed on the trade union and I must emphasise that the premature closure was agreed by Barbour at the union request.”

It appears that the shake up was brought about by the changes in knitwear trends, which meant that after 12 years of manufacture at the Galashiels plant, the classic knitwear and weaving was no longer deemed economically viable to continue.

This closure does not signal the death knell for Barbour and its country clothing followers. The 300 strong Barbour factory in South Shields, which makes the renowned Barbour wax jackets, is not going to be affected by the closure.