Manufacturer sets its sights on revitalising textile industry

Specialised work wear

manufacturing company, the

Kit Group, is set to open a

design centre at its downtown

Johannesburg premises as

part of a strategy to revitalise

the textile industry in South

Africa.

“I believe there is potential

to return to the old glory days

of the textile industry in South

Africa, before Chinese imports

saturated the market,” said

CEO Andrew Robinson.

According to Robinson,

the textile industry employed

over 130 000 people – more

than the mining industry

– in the 2 000s. “It is now

down to around 35 000, with

several textile factories closed

down,” he said. “When China

gained access to the South

African market, even with the

applicable 45% import duties,

its textile offerings were still

cheaper.”

The Kit Group is now on an

aggressive acquisition path –

looking at acquiring several

companies over the next four

years – to consolidate the

sector and focus on building

skills.

“There is a massive skills

gap and a lack of technical

expertise in the sector which

we lost when the bottom

fell out of the industry,” said

Robinson. The strong formal

education sector around

clothing design, textile design

etc had also dwindled since the

sector’s heydays, he added.

The Kit Group’s design

centre will focus on building

skills within the broader

textile manufacturing space

– from high-end design to

production.

“There are several major

global companies entering

the African marketplace,

especially from the United

States and the United

Kingdom, and these

companies need uniforms

for their staff,” commented

Robinson.

These companies, which

have commissioned the Kit

Group to manufacture their

uniforms, include the US’s

Puma Energy group, which is

opening up fuel stations across

the continent, as well as the

UK’s G4S security company

which continues to make

inroads in Africa.

“It makes sense to build a

strong manufacturing base

in South Africa to meet these

demands and then distribute

further into Africa from here,”

said Robinson.

The design centre will

also be focused on new and

innovative technologies

in textiles, which can be

incorporated into uniform

design and manufacture.

“Many of our clients

need specialised fabrics

appropriate to the

industry they serve –

bullet-proof vests for

security companies,

bacteria-resistant fabric

for hospital staff etc –

which we are currently

importing. If we could

develop these technologies

here, we’d have an even

bigger competitive advantage

in the textile industry,”

Robinson commented.

He said another opportunity

in the textile space was the

growing need for bespoke

work wear for corporate

clients. Studies had shown

that corporate staff who had

to wear a uniform were far

happier at work, and more

productive, if their prescribed

clothing met both their style

and their comfort needs, he

added.

The Kit Group is working

with several clothing designers

to create corporate work wear

and is currently running

several programmes and

campaigns to attract designers

from across the African

continent to collaborate on

creative design projects.

Robinson said the next step

– part of the group’s long-term

plan – would be to revive the

textile mills in South Africa.

“There are currently only a

handful of mills in the country

and we still source the majority

of our textiles from China.”

INSERT & CAPTION

The next step — part

of a long-term plan

— will be to revive

the textile mills.

– Andrew Robinson