Easier, Safer, Drier
R PHD gear: still hand-made in Britain. Photo: PHD.
Soggy Socks? Dirt and soaked-in water stops sweat escaping so it stays in your boots
Once a few outdoor companies made the move, others felt forced to follow, or risk being priced out. By the time Rab sold his business in 2004, manufacturing in the UK had become a unique selling point, so the new owners, Equip, did consider keeping Rab’s Sheffi eld factory open. However, as Neil McAdie, Rab Sales Director explains: “The higher costs involved would have damaged our ability to invest in progressive design and marketing. This would have held the brand back, and made it impossible to compete in a globalised world. We unfortunately did lose a small number of manufacturing jobs in the UK, but our resultant ability to compete and grow has now built a much bigger company that now employs three times more people than at the height of our UK manufacturing. The huge investment in technology by the best Chinese factories also enables them to produce higher specifi cation products than we could produce in a small-scale UK factory.” As Western industries faded away, China developed into the world’s factory. In Guangdong province alone, more than 30,000 textile companies now employ more than fi ve million people. The industry creates so much smog, that when they close down production in Guangdong for national holidays they get a few sunny days in Hong Kong. However, there are signs the low-cost, high-reward Chinese paradigm is ending. The country has one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, and Guangdong is now home to the most billionaires in mainland China. “We all offshored everything when China was an emerging market,” Jim Evans, one of the founders of the small British outdoor brand, Alpkit, tells me. “Now costs are going up in China.” Factories generally reduce manufacturing rates per product if offered two things: a bigger order, and longer
Breathe Easy! Clean, waterproofed boots allow water vapour to escape and keep your feet dry
Nikwax Footwear
Cleaning Gel is an effective, easy to use cleaner designed for outdoor footwear
waterproofers add safe,
Nikwax
high performance water repellency
F Buffalo:
outdoor clothing, Sheffi eld.
www.buffalosystems.co.uk Cioch:
outdoor clothing, Skye.
www.cioch-direct.co.uk
Our aftercare is the only 100% WaterBased, non-fl ammable and fl uorocarbon (PFC) free range available. We avoid using PFCs as we believe they are a risk to consumer health and the environment.
SUMMIT#74 | SUMMER 2014 | 51
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