RETAIL tycoon Sir Philip Green has signalled a shift in his company's use of foreign clothing manufacturers on the high street.
The owner of Topshop, Dorothy Perkins, Burton and Evans revealed his firm, Arcadia Group, had increased the number of UK factories it used by 20% over the past year.
It now has 47 firms producing clothing for the shops, compared to a negligible amount several years ago. The industry employs about 10,000 people in the UK.
Cutting his dependence on overseas manufacturing centres such as China, where costs are rising, Sir Philip said UK manufacturing gave the company a "different capability".
Rising labour costs and the declining price advantage of buying from the Far East have helped reverse the shift to low-cost factories abroad. Sir Philip said: "We've been pushing to keep it nearer home."
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