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Burberry to Move Out of Britain

Burberry is planning to export its jobs from Britain to Asia or Latin America. On September 6, Burberry decided to close its Treorchy factory in the Rhondda valley with the locals losing 309 jobs. The company has only two other factories in Britain which are both in Yorkshire. Burberry says that it is "a luxury brand with a distinctive British sensibility", but how British can it be, considering it is run from other countries? With the Polo Shirts business part of Burberry leaving the Rhondda valley, could this popular brand become damaged? Burberry cannot maintain its promotion of saying it is a British brand if the company exports jobs from Britain.

The union GMB that represents workers from the Treorchy factory is leading a campaign against the closure of the site in the Rhondda valley and this has the support of some high profile celebrities such as Ioan Gruffuudd who also features as a face for the Burberry brand. Bryn Terfel and Glyn Wise are also supporting this campaign. The workers affected have also picketed the Burberry stores in New Bond Street and Regent Street. This campaign is attracting worldwide interest. The company has two royal warrants, one of which is from the Prince of Wales, and there are questions coming from that area too. Burberry are unwilling to answer questions about what pay the Chinese will be working for if these jobs went to China as the company says that they have a commitment to corporate social responsibility. The Church of England also has shares in the Burberry company and became alerted to this move after the Rhondda MP Chris Bryant wrote to them about the loses of jobs at the Treorchy factory. They too are not happy about the export of jobs in the Polo Shirts area of the company.