For more than 85 years, Chester Jefferies has been creating gloves suitable for the queen. But now the company that once supplied the royal family is closing, with its owner saying many young people lack the interest or patience to pursue the “old-fashioned craft.”
Mark Pierce, who has worked for Chester Jefferies in Gillingham, Dorset, since he was 14, along with his father, who founded the company, predicts that the custom industry could cease to exist in the UK within 10 years. .
Pierce says that despite spending “thousands” training young people, the time it takes to become skilled enough to become a glove maker and the low salary that apprentices usually receive mean that most young people don’t want to. to stay long in the field.
Speaking on Queen’s Jubilee Week, he said: “For years we have been trying to keep young people, but in the glove industry it takes six to nine months to become a decent driver and be able to cut a pair properly with gloves. The apprenticeship took five years and the young people were not prepared to have a low salary to ensure that they would become qualified – we could not keep them. “
In Chester’s earlier days, Jeffries Pierce said the factory had about 52 employees and described the atmosphere as “buzzing”. Today, he says that despite several attempts to hire young people, there is no enthusiasm to learn the craft or work in a factory.
Pierce said another reason for closing the company was existing staff who had worked in the family business who wanted to retire.
“I understand that the production of gloves is an old-fashioned craft and, frankly, young people can earn much more in other areas, and in the end they have to make the best decision for themselves.”
Dents Gloves, a glove company founded in 1777 that specializes in leather gloves, says that although the business has been good this year, factories are rapidly closing in Britain.
Dents Gloves CEO Deborah Moore says they have proposed training schemes that will produce glove manufacturers in three years, unlike the previous four or five that would be needed to become a glove driver or cutter. .
She said: “I have been in this business for 32 years and the glove factories have decreased significantly. It is terribly sad. Young people do not want to enter this industry or stay too long to get a qualification. People don’t stay because they don’t want to spend time training. “
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