Bagshaw Footwear to close Port Elizabeth welted footwear facility
Bagshaw Footwear, the industrial division of Bolton Footwear, has announced it is to close its 139-year-old welted footwear facility in
According to Martin Paulsen, the general secretary of the National Union of Leather and Allied Workers’
Bagshaw Footwear’s managing director, Marthus Louw, said the company had attempted to develop its safety footwear division over the past few years to decrease its dependence on Government tenders. He added that over the past ten years, the group had in fact cut its welted footwear production from 50% of its total business to 20%.
In the past, the South African Government annual tender for military boots and footwear for the army, police and correctional services has been supplied by Bagshaw and another company, Dick Whittington, which is BEE listed and based in Pietermaritzburg.
Earlier this year, another Pietermaritzburg-based manufacturer, which is also BEE listed, was awarded the contract to supply 90% of the Government’s welted footwear tender.
