ARCHER Clothing Manufacturers plan to revive its exports and increase its workforce to 850 workers during the next quarter.
OWN CORRESPONDENT
Harare textile firm Paramount Garments started operations at Archer Clothing Manufacturers this month despite delays in confirming takeover of the troubled firm by the High Court.
Archer was placed under judicial management in 2010 after failing to raise working capital and subsequently went under provisional liquidation last year.
“We have started supplying Edgars and we have opened a new retail shop for our customers. We used to export to America, but that stopped and we want to re-establish that.
“In the next quarter of the year we wish to have employed at least 850 employees,” Paramount managing director Jeremy Youmans said on Friday during a tour by the Industry and Commerce minister Mike Bimha.
Youmans said the Archer employed 250 people and for them to employ a total of 850, the court case should be finalised.
He said 45 creditors were owed by Archer Clothing and only one had voted against the Paramount offer.
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“We are still being constrained by the ongoing court process and the efforts of one creditor to prolong the process to their advantage,” he said adding that they intended to invest $5 million by next year if the scheme succeeded.
Paramount at the moment is upgrading Archer’s equipment, which is outdated and expensive to maintain, to international standards.
Archer was one of the biggest employers in Bulawayo in the past, but most of the workers were laid off in 2010 when the company was placed under judicial management.
Meanwhile, Bimha said companies, employees and the government should put their heads together for the revival of industries.
