Fashion – Enter CEO Discusses the Leicester FTA on BBC Radio
December 3, 2024 - December 3, 2024
This morning, 18th January 2021 at 10.35am, Fashion-Enter’s CEO Jenny Holloway joined Councillor Adam Clarke to discuss the exciting and positive news of major investment in a new Fashion Technology Academy based in Leicester. The pair talked about the initiative on BBC Radio Leicester with mid-morning show host Ben Jackson.
On the 13th January 2021 Leicester City Council announced that it would be working with Fashion-Enter Ltd and Ethically Sourced Products Ltd to set up the £300,000 training academy based in Spinney Hills, an area where many clothing manufacturer’s already exist.
Ben discussed the tarnished reputation that Leicester had been labelled with after national headlines featured news of lockdown issues and infringements of people’s rights within the textile sector. Adam replied: “There is so much good work that goes on in this city already and that is overshadowed by these allegations, I think this (the new academy) is a fantastic story and now we can build on these skills in Leicester.”
Jenny added: “Leicester has the largest manufacturing cluster in the whole of the UK. The demand for ‘Made in the UK’ has never been higher than now, I think this is an excellent time to announce this initiative.”
On the topic of skills and training she said: “It is incredibly broad (the skills range), for far too long manufacturing doesn’t get the amount of kudos it rightly deserves. The amount of knowledge is unbelievable, we are talking about pattern making, machining, even pressing, making sure you’re packing correctly, all these jobs are a vital role, and we actually teach qualifications all the way from a Level 1 to a Level 5, with Level 5 being bespoke tailoring. The amount of skill required to run manufacturing is pretty darn awesome.
“With the new training centre we want to attract a new generation of people to come into garment manufacturing and really embrace the huge skill base that there is there.”
Leicester has an impressive hub of textile and manufacturing businesses with a well accomplished heritage and the new Leicester Fashion Technology Academy aims to build on that potential, as well as bring the industry in line with the latest technological advancements. The academy is a positive step for the entire industry, that will not only readdress the bad press generated by a very few but maintain and grow quality, heritage skills on UK soil.
Thank-you to BBC Radio Leicester.
