UK footwear/leather output down again
Further proof (if it were needed) of the continuing decline seen in the UK footwear and leather manufacturing sector is provided by the UK Office of National Statistics Index of Industrial Output for August 2002.
Compared with the month before, footwear production fell 0.3 points to 79.5. where the benchmark of 100 index points is provided by the average of prices in 1995. The index for August 2001 by comparison was 88.3 points. During the same twelve monthly period, the leather tanning and dressing sector fell 3.9 index points to 61 while the luggage, accessories and saddlery sector declined 4.2 points to 70.2. The trend was broadly in line with the fall-off seen in UK manufacturing which fell o.3% overall between July and August 2002.
