Stephen Etheridge, group chief executive of Church and Co plc, has joined SATRA Technology Centre’s board of directors.

He was formally elected at SATRA’s annual meeting on June 14, 2005.

Mr Etheridge joined the Church group in 1994 and was chief executive of J. Cheaney and Sons from 1995 to 2001 before taking up his current position at Northampton.

While acknowledging the shift of mass footwear production to the Far East, he is upbeat about the future of a slimmer, more focused UK industry. "Businesses have closed and jobs have been lost, but we are not looking at the rump of a dying industry. Instead I feel we now have a defendable core of manufacturers producing quality footwear for the higher end of the market which, on a global basis, will always remain in demand," he commented.

SATRA offers a wide range of services including product evaluation, technical and management consultation, computer systems and information, together with sales of test equipment.

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