Archer Clothing to add 100 jobs

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BULAWAYO textile company Archer Clothing expects production to rise by 40% by year-end with capacity utilisation increasing to a similar margin from the current 25% as new owners push to bring the company to full assembly.

BULAWAYO textile company Archer Clothing expects production to rise by 40% by year-end with capacity utilisation increasing to a similar margin from the current 25% as new owners push to bring the company to full assembly.

Harare-based textile firm Paramount Garments bought the Bulawayo company after Archer creditors approved the takeover at the High Court, saving it from liquidation. Production resumed in September, but one of Archer’s 45 creditors is contesting the takeover.

“We also expect to employ 100 more people by the end of the year, as we continue improving production. This will add to the 205 whom we employed when we resumed operations,” Paramount managing director Jeremy Youmans told said on Tuesday. He said at least 50% of the merchandise that would come out of Archer would be exported.

“Paramount has been in the business of exporting products for the past 25 years and we hope to use this to seek markets for Archer. Before Archer closed, it also used to export so we just hope to reactivate the markets,” said Youmans.

Paramount has set aside $5 million to recapitalise the company over five years.

Archer was placed under judicial management in 2010 after failing to raise working capital and subsequently under provisional liquidation last year before the Paramount takeover.

— The Source