NEWS
BFA Drives ‘Made in Britain’ initiative Contrary to received opinion, the British-made footwear industry has not
completely died out. Following the growing demand for footwear to have the treasured ‘Made
in Britain’ label the BFA has led an initiative to find those pockets of British excellence in the home grown footwear industry. To date it has identified a number of small manufacturers who are producing an amazing variety of styles, often using British made components. Richard Kottler, Chief Executive of the BFA said: “The BFA started this initiative as our members kept telling us that
customers around the world but especially in the Far East, are asking for premium level product to be genuinely made in the UK. This not only applies to high quality mens welted shoes, but casual, sports and elegant dressy ladies footwear as well. “Apart from the marketing potential, this makes sound economic sense
given the position of the pound against other currencies and with labour costs rising strongly in many footwear producing countries.” As part of its commitment, the BFA has been instrumental in matching
customer need to UK manufacture . A number of these UK companies are already producing for well-known brands - all proud to have the BFA’s ‘Made in Britain’ endorsement.
Full details of the manufacturers involved with this initiative are posted on the BFA website
www.britfoot.com
Ravel Appoints New Sales Representative To support the continued success and the ongoing growth of footwear
brand Ravel, Jacobson Group is pleased to announce the appointment of Maria Walker as sales representative for South-East England. Applying her vast experience within the footwear and fashion retail
industry, Walker is tasked with initially selling in Ravel’s spring/summer 2011 collection whilst continuing to build on the brand’s current independent retailer base in this territory.
New UK & Ireland agent for Gardenia Shoes This long-established manufacturer of top-quality Italian mocassins has
appointed Martin Ward as their agent in the UK and Ireland. The range includes classic and modern styling, with sizes from 32-44 on their most popular lasts. Tel. 07778 595508 or at
martinwardfootwear@hotmail.co.uk
BFA News - Trade Shows
GDS September 2010 An extremely well laid out and elegant event, run with typical German
efficiency. The show was buzzing on the Friday (first day) especially in the fashion halls (3 - 4 plus the elegant White Cubes area). This tailed off slightly on Saturday and picked up again with mainly German retailers on the last day (Sunday). GDS are likely to change the show days to avoid a w/e from March 11 and we will soon have these new dates. The UK presence was reasonable at around thirty brands, most of which were exhibiting with their German agents/distributors. It is still true to say that GDS is the main German speaking countries’
footwear specific event on the calendar, but there were a number of retailers from Northern Europe and Benelux as well as Eastern European countries. In our opinion, GDS is a “must” event if your company is considering or already has an established presence in Germany. It is, however, not nearly as international as Micam and visitor numbers are at around 20,000 nearly 50% less than Micam. BFA has a very good relationship with the organizers and we are also planning a new joint venture presence at the next March 2011 event.
Micam September 2010 Considering the general cautious economic climate, this last Micam show
was very good for the majority of our seventy four exhibitor brands. Obviously, some areas worked better than others and the jury is still out as to whether starting on a Sunday is a good idea and also the move and swop of the men’s hall (5) with one of the women’s halls (4), but there was definitely a better buzz in the air and more optimism - let’s hope this continues. Visitor numbers are about 38,000 of which the Italian retailers actually increased by 35%. Internationally, there were increasing numbers from Asia and theMiddle East, but UK visitors were disappointingly down by over 30% to around 800. Richard and I spent some time speaking to the organisers who confirm
that for March 2011 there will be even more pressure on space as the existing Italian exhibitors havealready asked for more - but we are cautiously optimistic that the UK will receive its share of extra stands. We will not know this until after the returning exhibitor contracts are in, approximately end October/mid November. The bottom line is that Micam still leads the way as the industry’s flagship global trade show for mainly branded footwear.
Please contact Nicholas for further details.
nicholas@fitsuk.com
ASICS Appoints new UK Managing Director ASICS has appointed Barry Mellis as its new Managing Director for UK &
Eire. Mellis joins ASICS with extensive UK and European sports trade experience, most recently as General Manager of Intersport UK. Prior to this he has held both Country Manager and Sales Director roles at New Balance, following 19 successful years with adidas across a number of commercial functions. Mellis joins ASICS in the New Year following the return to Japan of
outgoing Managing Director for UK & Eire, Ryoji Sekito. Ryoji Sekito has served as Managing Director for UK & Eire over the past nine years during a 30 year international career with ASICS globally. According to Alistair Cameron, President and Chief Operating Officer,
ASICS B.V, Europe, ”Everyone at ASICS worldwide is grateful for the significant contribution Sekito San has made to the company, and in
4 • FOOTWEAR TODAY • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010
particular the work he has done to build the brand in the UK, now our fastest growing market. He will be sorely missed, however he leaves a strong legacy and a good team in place and we could not have a more suitable replacement in Barry who brings a huge amount of sports retail and industry experience to the brand at a crucial stage in its development. ASICS UK is the fastest growing part of ASICS European business and he will be responsible for maintaining brand growth and dynamism.” According to Mellis, “ASICS is a fantastic, highly credible brand with the
realistic ambition of becoming the number one premium sports performance brand. I relish the challenge of developing brand presence and growth in both the UK and Irish markets.”
Mary Killingworth t: 0207 940 7172 e:
mary@brandnation.co.uk www.footweartoday.co.uk
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