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A plan to close Deane Apparel’s Christchurch factory will result in 67 layoffs, the firm says.
The proposed closure of Deane Apparel’s Christchurch factory will result in the loss of 67 jobs two days before Christmas.
The workwear company is considering closing its Burnside site, in what it calls a “painful but prudent” move.
The family business was founded in 1932 and has headquarters in Christchurch and a distribution center in Auckland.
Designs, manufactures and supplies coveralls and uniforms to New Zealand companies such as Cleanaway, Foodstuffs and Fonterra.
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The Christchurch plant specializes in made-to-measure clothing, but the company says customers have increasingly opted for ready-to-wear items, meaning the site has been running at a loss for several years.
About 90 percent of Deane’s manufacturing is done in Southeast Asia, and if the planned closure goes ahead, it will mean all of its factories are overseas.
Although it is still a proposal, general manager Corey Mulligan expected the factory to close on December 23, saying productivity was “at an all-time low.”
“We are making the decision reluctantly. Christchurch has been an amazing part of our business for many years. “
MORNING REPORT / RNZ
Up to 750 jobs are configured to leave the warehouse.
There hasn’t been enough work “to fill the factory,” he said.
The company offers job search and counseling services as part of a layoff package, which it considers “more generous than most of its counterparts in the industry.”
“This is a proposition that we have come to grudgingly because we are well aware of the impact it will have on our Christchurch employees,” said Mulligan.
“On average, they have worked at Deane for 15 years and two of them have more than 40 years of service.”
