The clothing firm Desmond's, one of Northern Ireland's biggest private sector employers, is to shed 225 jobs across the company. The cuts have been blamed on the downturn in high street sales which has caused a sharp dip in profits at the firm's sole customer, Marks and Spencer.
The worst-affected plant is in Swatragh, Co Derry, where 70 of the 270 staff are to lose their jobs. Another 60 employees are being laid off at the factory in Irvinestown, Co Fermanagh.
In a statement, Desmonds said the reduction was the result of a significant fall in retail sales, and was necessary to bring production capacity into line with current and predicted activity. It is expected that a number of people will be redeployed within the group, but the company made clear that most of the reduction will be achieved through redundancies. None of the company's 12 factories is being shut down altogether.
"To protect the long-term strength of the business," the statement said, "we are trimming capacity in such a way as to retain our ability to respond should there be an upturn in demand."
A spokesman said that Desmonds had invested £25 million sterling in its manufacturing processes over the past few years, and this meant it was in a better position to weather the current downturn in sales than many of its competitors.
The announcement brings the number of jobs lost in the clothing and textiles sector to 1,400 over the past 12 months, according to the Northern Ireland Textiles and Apparel Association. Most of the redundancies have been due to the strength of sterling. The regional officer of the GMB union, Mr Pat Dyer, described the news of the lay-offs as "devastating".
Union representatives have planned a series of meetings with Desmonds management in an attempt to find ways of reducing the number of job losses.
Desmond's has three operating divisions - leisurewear, outerwear, and nightwear. Leisurewear and outerwear now account for around threequarters of the company's total business. Leisurewear accounts for around 25 per cent, outerwear, especially jeans, for 50 per cent, and nightwear for the other 25 per cent.
Sales of jeans have grown to the point where it now represents 25 per cent of the company's total output. The company's factories factories at Springtown and Newbuildings specialise in jeans production, and it also accounts for a significant proportion of the output at the Omagh plant.
Desmond's has been dealing with Marks and Spencer for more than 50 years, and began working exclusively for the company in 1960.
The chairman, Mr Denis Desmond, has always rejected any suggestion that this is a risky arrangement, saying that both parties look on it as a partnership.
