William Baird to cut 500 jobs in shake-up

Textiles in trouble: Second M&S supplier announces factory closures as bid talks lift the ailing SR Gent

William Baird, the Marks & Spencer clothing supplier, announced a "wide- ranging" review of its textiles business yesterday that will to lead to around 500 job losses.

The company plans to close two of its 37 factories though it has not disclosed the targets. David Suddens, Baird's new chief executive, said none of the cuts would be made at the factories which supply M&S.

The redundancy announcement comes a year after Baird cut 600 jobs in its fabrics and men's suits operations which had been undermined by cheaper foreign imports.

Though the restructuring won support in the City, the job losses were immediately criticised by the Labour Party. Ian McCartney, the chief employment spokesman, said they highlighted the job insecurity "that continues to haunt every factory and office in Britain".

The redundancies are part of a wholesale shake-up of the textile company which will see it sell non-clothing operations such as engineering, giftware and toy distribution as well as smaller brands with limited potential.

Instead, it intends to focus on its business with M&S for whom it makes menswear, ladieswear, childrenswear and lingerie. It also plans to develop its top brands such as Dannimac and Centaur menswear.

The restructuring will force the company to take a pounds 23m-pounds 28m charge in its 1996 accounts. This will include an estimated pounds 10m to pounds 15m loss on the disposal of the non-core operations.

Mr Suddens said the company planned to improve its M&S contract clothing business by improving design and marketing and increasing production dedicated to M&S, while reducing overheads and boosting productivity.

For the branded clothing division Baird intends to reduce its UK manufacturing operations while committing two wholly owned overseas factories for clothing production.

Investment column, page 25