Hotter Shoes is planning to ramp up the number it produces in British factories each year to one million pairs under its new owner.
WoolOvers, which snapped up the retailer out of administration last year, has reversed the footwear specialist’s planned “phasing out” of manufacturing at its factory in Skelmersdale, Lancashire.
The new owner wants to raise domestic production to three quarters of the shoes, up from 25%, that Hotter sells, The Times reported.
WoolOvers chief executive Mike Lester said: “We quickly understood that what the customer bought into was the UK-manufactured, the comfort fit, and the products they knew and loved, and not the products that were imported from India that were a bit more fashion-forward, but didn’t come in the range of fits and widths that were going to work with an older person’s feet.”
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He said that production in Britain was only very slightly more expensive than sourcing from India.
“If we can put more volume through [the factory] then that increases the [profit] margin. It is a win-win for us.
“We want to make it here, employ people and control the quality, the customer gets what they want and it is a better story for the UK. We can make it here and compete with competition from India.”
Hotter Shoes was rescued by WoolOvers in a £6.7m pre-pack deal last July after owner Unbound called in administrators for the shoe company.
The retailer, which trades from 30 sites in the UK, online and through catalogues, reported sales are back up to £50m, up from £45m, in the first year since the acquisition.
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