Job losses announced at major Northamptonshire shoe-makers

Covid-19 has impacted workers at two of Northamptonshire's leading footwear brands
Barkers Shoes factory in Station Road, Earls Barton.Barkers Shoes factory in Station Road, Earls Barton.
Barkers Shoes factory in Station Road, Earls Barton.

Two leading shoe manufacturers in Northamptonshire have announced that a number of their employees have been made redundant.

Employees at Barkers Shoes and Loake Shoemaking Factory are among those hit by the latest wave of Covid-19 job losses.

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Barker Shoes have been making footwear since 1880 in Earls Barton.

Loake Shoemaking Factory in Wood Street, Kettering.Loake Shoemaking Factory in Wood Street, Kettering.
Loake Shoemaking Factory in Wood Street, Kettering.

The company was set up at a workshop in North Road before a factory was later bought in Station Road in 1905.

After the business was bought by an international group Barkers went on to open a unit in the Printemps Haussmann store in Paris two years ago.

A spokesman for Barkers Shoes said making redundancies was the last resort.

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He said: "It is with great regret that we have had to restructure the Barker business due to circumstances beyond our control caused by Covid-19.

"This has sadly resulted in redundancies at our Earls Barton factory and London stores.

"We're doing everything possible to limit the impact this global crisis is having on the Northamptonshire shoe making legacy."

Loake Shoemakers in Kettering has also announced redundancies.

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On Thursday, March 19, workers at the Wood Street headquarters were called into a meeting to inform them that a redundancy consultation was under way.

This week the managing director said the business is sorry to lose ‘valued members’ of staff.

Andrew Cory said: "Sadly, Loake Shoemakers have had to make redundancies as a result of a downturn in sales due to Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent pressures that three months of shops and factory closures have caused.

"We understand how difficult and upsetting this is for all, and we are working with local businesses as well as the Job Centre to try and get as many people back in work at the earliest

opportunity.

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"We are incredibly sorry to lose valued members of our business, but regrettably we need to make changes to safeguard and protect the future of our family brand."

The company, founded in Kettering in 1880, hand-makes top-end leather shoes and has held a royal warrant since 2007.

The firm has been in its 20,000 sq ft Wood Street home since 1884 and, during WWII, produced more than 2,500 pairs of boots every week for the Royal Navy and Air Force.