Ethical stance wins praise..
Friday, August 24th, 2007
FIRMS’ STANCE ON ETHICAL STANDARDS CONDEMNED
Date : 23.08.07 - Western Morning News.
Cornish clothing manufacturer Finisterre has criticised its larger competitors for paying lip service to the notion of ethical production but ignoring it in overseas factories.Founder and director Tom Kay said more firms need to take more seriously the poor conditions workers face in places like China and the poor quality of the product.
Finisterre has pulled its production out of the Far East because of serious concerns it had over how its clothing was being produced.
It has since set up operations in Columbia and Portugal, while handling bespoke garment manufacturing in Devon.
“The big companies are just looking for the bottom line,” he said.
“You cannot expect a supermarket to produce a pair of jeans for £4 and not have some exploitation along the way.”
He added that some companies were showing levels of integrity which are “questionable”, by claiming to be involved in ethical production when they were not.
“People are doing it [thinking about ethical sourcing] for the sake of doing it and are not helping as much as they should be,” he said.
Mr Kay’s comments come after US toy giant Mattel was forced to recall millions of toys after high levels of lead were found in paint used by manufacturers for the firm in China.
Magnets in several toys were also found to be poorly secured and presenting a choking risk.
Finisterre formerly produced its surfer-orientated clothing in China, but pulled out after growing concerns about working practices at its manufacturer.
Mr Kay said: “Initially it seemed like it was perfectly acceptable. It was a small factory, so there was a feeling that it was not being mass produced. But after a while it became clear that environmentally it was extremely bad.
“And after a while we began questioning about the lower end employees about how well their rights were represented by the factory and what their living conditions were like.”
Finisterre has now switched production to two sites abroad. One is in Colombia, where it has linked up with a scheme run by nuns to help former street prostitutes and drug addicts earn a living. It has also signed a deal with a factory in Portugal. Bespoke orders are produced at its site in the Westcountry.
Mr Kay said that getting green and ethical credentials is increasingly important for firms.
“Previously companies just did what they did. Now, if you do not have a green agenda you are at a disadvantage because people are looking for it.”
