Leeds City Council luxury brand Burberry’s decision to create a £50 million manufacturing and weaving facility in Leeds will help attract a new generation of top class textile designers.
Judith Blake Councillor, feels says universities who wanted to help provide a supply of skilled textile workers had already contacted her. She further added that Burberry’s announcement was an extraordinary statement by an iconic global brand. Apart from the textile industry, Blake believes that this will have positive knock on-effects other sectors as well, such as IT services, transport, and logistics.
For its heritage trench coat, Burberry plans to employ more than 1,000 people at a new manufacturing and weaving facility, in the heart of Leeds. In 2016, work on the site in the South Bank of Leeds is set to begin with an initial investment of £50m, said Burberry. By 2019, the facility is expected to have been completed. The two existing manufacturing and weaving centres in Castleford and Cross Hills, in West Yorkshire will be replaced by the new facility.
Gerald Jennings, President of Leeds Chamber of Commerce welcomed the announcement and said that it reinforced the South Bank proposition as one of the North of England’s great locations for business. He believes that Temple Works’ proximity to the north’s busiest rail station and the regional motorway network was an important factor in choosing the site. Jennings also wished Burberry every success as they enter Leeds.
