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Hotter Shoes’ new owner, WoolOvers, reportedly has plans to increase the number of products it makes within the UK to one million pairs of shoes a year, according to The Times.
The news comes after WoolOvers acquired the footwear retailer out of administration for £6.7m a year earlier. Prior to its acquisition, Hotter Shoes had planned a “phasing out” of manufacturing at its factory in Skelmersdale, Lancashire.
It is understood that WoolOvers wants to raise domestic production to three quarter of the shoes that Hotter Shoes sells, spelling a rise from the current 25%.
Mike Lester, CEO of WoolOvers, told The Times: “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.”
According to Lester, production in Britain is only slightly more expensive than sourcing from India.
He added: “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, which trades from 30 sites in the UK, online and through catalogues, reported a bounce back in sales up to £50m from £45m, in the first year since the acquisition.
