A struggling firm that made shoes worn by Prince George and Princess Charlotte is on the brink of collapse after war in the Middle East put off a potential buyer.
Early Days, which operates a factory in Leicester, has been looking to find a buyer since January – after being pushed to the wall by Labour’s costs hikes.
But the shoemaker’s chief executive Paul Bolton said a potential deal that would have kept production within the UK fell through this week.
A sale was scuppered due to ‘a concern’ that the war in the Middle East would hit sales in the UK, should energy bills rise once more, Bolton said.
He told This is Money: ‘I am sure it will impact consumer confidence which is already very low.
Paul Bolton warned his business had faced trouble after increases to wages and other costs
‘We are being told energy bills will be going to go up when we were only told the other day they will be going down. All sorts of commodities will go up in price further or be in short supply.’
It comes as war in Iran could mean that UK households’ energy bills go up by £160 a year to at least £1,801 from July, according to experts at Cornwall Insight.
‘I think consumer confidence is at an all time low and it is going to get worse,’ Bolton added.
And the suitor was also worried they would not be able to employ skilled staff, Bolton said – in remarks sure to reignite fears over the future of jobs in British manufacturing.
Bolton added: ‘Skilled footwear staff are getting harder to find as young people just do not come into the trade as they did when I first joined the company forty years ago. All our staff are in their 60’s, when they retire there is very little chance of finding skilled staff to replace them.’
He said the group had been forced to shut due to Labour’s increases to the minimum wage and rising material prices.
This forced the group to hike the price of its shoes by over £3 per pair in just two years. Its £32 ‘Alex’ leather shoes have been worn by the royal siblings, including by Prince George on the 2014 royal tour of Australia and New Zealand.
Bolton said the royals’ acknowledgement ‘was fabulous for our company’ and he ‘really did not think we would be facing closure after this accolade.’
He is still looking for a buyer after ceasing manufacturing earlier this year.
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