Fashion Enter and Haringey Council launch UK’s first Fashion Technology Academy

Haringey Supports British Manufacturing with the First Fashion Technology Academy

Social enterprise Fashion Enter Ltd will launch the UK’s first ever Fashion Technology Academy in collaboration with Haringey Council who has invested a sum of £570,000, DWP and global e-tailer ASOS.com in April 2015 to ensure longevity and growth for the UK garment manufacturing sector.

The Fashion Technology Academy (FTA) is an extension of the successful Stitching Academy and will include qualifications across the entire garment life cycle incorporating pattern making, fabric inspection, laying and cutting, quality control, machine maintenance and stitching.

The academy will be the first apparel manufacturing training academy in the country to operate alongside a live factory environment ensuring that students will gain exposure to real manufacturing whilst training for their Level 1 qualification. Initially launching with Level 1 there will be progression for learners to develop to Levels 2, 3 and 4, emulating the apprenticeship programme also run by Fashion Enter Ltd.

British manufacturing has suffered over the last five decades with the onslaught of cheap production overseas. However, there has been a marked return to British manufacturing in recent years and with it a keen demand for skilled production workers. The FTA seeks to fill the skills gap by training over 1,000 people a year by 2019, opening up job opportunities for 1,000’s and encouraging growth in the local manufacturing sector.

Director Fashion Enter, Jenny Holloway commented:

“We really believe that the Fashion Technology Academy is the single most important initiative we have ever undertaken. We will be able to help 1000’s of people gain real work based skills that will lead to employment. With the on-shoring of garment manufacturing that is occurring now the timing of the Fashion Technology Academy is perfect. Our sincere gratitude to Haringey Council, DWP and ASOS.com for their overwhelming support.”

Councillor Joe Goldberg, Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Social Inclusion and Sustainability also commented:

“I’m proud that here in Haringey we are at the cutting edge of a fashion manufacturing boom, and we are equipping our residents with the skills they need to secure long-term employment. It’s exciting that projects like this that create jobs, apprenticeships and training in industries that capture the imagination of Haringey’s young talent are happening in our borough.” 

The expansion of Fashion Enter’s already existing training opportunities with the UK’s first Fashion Technology Academy will not only help grow and regenerate the local borough but it is also fundamental in ensuring garment manufacturing is quite rightly brought back to the UK.

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Editors Notes

About Fashion Enter Ltd

Fashion Enter, an award winning social enterprise, strives to be a centre of excellence for learning and development within fashion and textiles centering on the Governments apprenticeship programme. To facilitate this aim Fashion Enter has opened a London based factory and sampling studio which creates the highest possible quality standards for client’s orders ranging from a quantity of 1 – 7,500 a week

About Haringey Council

Haringey Council’s Economic Development and Growth Strategy sets out a dedicated wide-ranging plan to attract London’s booming textile manufacturing, tech and green sectors to the borough.

The strategy sets out bold ideas to make Haringey an employment centre rather than just a ‘dormitory borough’ for commuters working elsewhere, including a new business district in Tottenham Hale and direct financial support for small manufacturers to set up shop locally.

This will run alongside investment in skills and learning opportunities to help more young people in Haringey get the specialist training, work experience and apprenticeships they need to take advantage of jobs being created both in their neighbourhood and across one of the world’s best cities.