UK leather industry strategy launch

United Kingdom

Published: 15 September, 2011

Baroness Falkner of Margravine, Chancellor of The University of Northampton

The UK Leather Federation supported by the University of Northampton officially unveiled their UK Leather Industry Strategy launch at the House of Lords in London on September 13. The launch was made to 60 invited guests is aimed at defining the future of the sector in the UK and how it will survive in a competitive global market place.

The UK leather industry has an annual turnover of around $320 million within an annual trade in finished leather of $18.4 billion. It employs 1,100 people.

The UKLF has identified strategic issues for the UK industry which are as follows:

Research & development
Environment
Brand
Carbon footprint and sustainability
UK raw materials (hides and skins)
Education and people

The strategy aims to attract new recruits to join the leather industry and learn skills through work placed training and courses supplied by the newly created Institute of Creative Leather Technologies (ICLT), part of the University of Northampton.

Baroness Falkner of Margravine, Chancellor of The University of Northampton and Reg Hankey, Managing Director, Pittards addressed the audience at the strategy launch expressing the need for the UK industry to add value to the UK's large resource of hides and skins and use some of the world-class education and research centres in the UK to provide innovation in the future.

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