In a shock move, Lowe Alpine has announced that a large portion of
its UK operation will be relocated from Kendal in the Lakes to
Treviso in northern Italy with effect from July.
The move by parent company Asolo will mean up to 50 employees
losing their jobs as the company is re-structured to minimise
function duplication between Italy and the UK.
That means areas like accounting and international marketing will
be handled from Italy, while a smaller UK operation concentrates
purely on the UK and Ireland. The pack design team will also remain
in Kendal.
The only aspect which may make a difference to Lowe Alpine
customers is the relocation of the clothing design team to Italy. The
brand has always been strong in northern Europe, with clothing
designed to work in UK-type conditions and while there's no reason
why that should change, it remains to be seen whether Italian 'design
flair' has an impact on the clothing a couple of seasons down the
line leading to a 'more continental look'.
It's a second major change for the company after last year's
announcement that from later this year it will be working with WL
Gore rather than continuing with eVENT fabrics.
On a lighter note, one insider blames the whole thing on the
Kendal office's lack of a decent coffee machine... Seriously though,
we'd like to say good luck to the guys at Lowe Alpine who are losing
their jobs and thanks for all the help you've given us over the past
few years.
For a local perspective on the story, see this
item in the Westmoreland Gazette.
Scoop preview of Lowe Alpine's spring/summer 2004 range featuring the return of the classic Ninja Hoodie... Just who is that masked warrior?
