Is the news that Clark’s may close its brand new footwear factory in Somerset a sign that the UK manufacturing revival is over?
Up to 300,000 pairs a year of the footwear firm’s iconic desert boots were to be made at the semi-automated facility, creating up to 80 technical and managerial jobs.
But Clark’s have recently announced that it may have to close only a few months after it opened.
Clark’s started making shoes in Somerset in 1825 but production was moved from to the Far East in 2005.
The last remaining Clarks factory in the UK – Millom in Cumbria – closed in 2006.
In this episode I look at why this may have happened, and what it means for the future of UK manufacturing.
BBC News article about the closure of Clarks Factory
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