Mulberry mulls over openings a third UK factory

Luxury heritage label Mulberry is considering opening a third factory in the UK, if it manages to reach its growth targets.

Thierry Andretta, Chief Executive Officer at Mulberry revealed to Reuters that the luxury fashion house is “fully committed” to manufacturing in the UK, even though recent currency exchange had made local production more difficult for the company. Mulberry has faced higher import costs since the Brexit vote. "We want to continue this and I hope one day when we grow perhaps we will even consider opening another factory,” he said.

The luxury label currently produces more than 50 percent of its handbags in the UK across its two factories in Somerset, which employ approximately 600 people between them. Mulberry also aims to continue supporting apprenticeships, during which the company teaches new apprentices how to make their leather goods. A new factory could create as many as 300 new roles for leather craftworkers , helping safeguard local skills as well.

Mulberry’s sales have improved since Andretta took over the helm of the label in 2015 and moved away from the company’s former business strategy, which saw the prices of a number of iconic handbags increase to more than 1,000 pounds. Now approximately three-quarters of Mulberry leathers goods retail for under 1,000, ensuring the brand is more accessible to a wider range of consumers.

Andretta’s strategy appears to be paying off, as Mulberry’s retail sales increased 2 percent and its gross margin increased by 1.9 million pounds in the six months to September 30, 2017.