Isle of Wight-based clothing company Rapanui is due to open a manufacturing facility in Cowes.
A £100,000 investment, that OnTheWight has been told is being made by the company, will see some of the cutting and making of clothes on the Island, using the material that they currently source from India, as well as much of the screen printing, embroidery and finishing of the garments. The plans are to open it in March 2014.
“Reshoring some of our production makes good business sense,” said Rob Drake-Knight, Rapanui co-founder. Expansion of the team is planned said Rob, “Over the next three years we plan to grow from 10 staff to 22; at least half of the new jobs will be in production.”
Reshore UK
It’s part of a new trend that the Government is trying to encourage through their newly launched organisation, Reshore UK, a UKTI and Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) one-stop-shop service to help companies bring production back to the UK from abroad.
Reshore UK will provide a matching and location service, access to advice and support and a named Advisor to help each company.
Steven Barr, Head of the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS), said:
“Reshoring is a huge opportunity for UK manufacturers and we are delighted to be working in partnership with UKTI to give both domestic and international firms access to this one-stop service. Our expert advisors working on the ground will continue to ensure firms offer world class manufacturing performance and have the capacity in place to take advantage of larger companies bringing production home.”
