The UK Market for Hand Luggage and Leather Goods is Forecast to Increase by 5.5% between 2005 and 2009.DUBLIN, Ireland -- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c26530) has announced the addition of Hand Luggage & Leather Goods Market Report 2005 to their offering. The number of people employed in the tanning tanning, process by which skins and hides are converted into leather. Vegetable tanning, a method requiring more than a month even with modern machinery and tanning liquors, employs tannin; its use is shown in Egyptian tomb paintings dating from 3000 B.C. industry worldwide is estimated at well over 500,000 and those employed in the leather manufacturing sectors increase this number substantially. The textiles and leather sector, which also includes clothing and footwear production, had a combined turnover of more than 200bn in the EU (EU15) alone, prior to the joining of ten accessionary countries in May 2004. However, over the past decade, many jobs have been lost through modernisation and as a result of international competition from developing countries. The leather industry is now very much a global one with raw hides and skins, part-processed leather, finished leather and leather products widely imported and exported. Competition will only intensify in·ten·si·fy v. in·ten·si·fied, in·ten·si·fy·ing, in·ten·si·fies v.tr. 1. To make intense or more intense: with the abolition of import quotas Import quotas are a form of protectionism. An import quota fixes the quantity of a particular good that foreign producers may bring into a country over a specific period, usually a year. The U.S. government imposes quotas to protect domestic industries from foreign competition. that took place on 1st January 2005, leaving the enlarged EU industry facing an uncertain future. While the UK has traditionally had a trade deficit in luggage and leather goods, it is one that increases at an alarming rate. The value of UK exports has increased over the years, but not to the same rate as its imports. From 2001 to 2003, the trade deficit rose by a staggering 88.8% and this, of course, was before the removal of quotas. An example of globalisation, the UK's leading luggage manufacturer, Carlton International PLC, was acquired in 2004, by one of Asia's leading luggage manufacturers, VIP Industries Ltd, part of the US DG Piramal Group. Carlton International's plant and machinery have been moved to India to increase output capability at VIP's facility in Nashik, while the new wholly-owned subsidiary of Carlton Travel Goods Ltd will market both the Carlton and VIP brands in Europe. On the retail side, one of the market leaders is the LVMH LVMH Moët Hennessy-Louis Vuitton (upscale retailer) Moet Hennessy-Louis Vuitton Group, which derives around a third of its turnover from sales of fashion and leather products. The company has ambitious plans for expansion in the UK. It currently has five standalone stand·a·lone adj. Self-contained and usually independently operating: a standalone computer terminal. stores in Great Britain Great Britain, officially United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, constitutional monarchy (2005 est. pop. 60,441,000), 94,226 sq mi (244,044 sq km), on the British Isles, off W Europe. The country is often referred to simply as Britain. - three of them in London, a newly-opened one in Birmingham and one in Edinburgh - with further concession outlets in the UK and Dublin. Another competitor at the forefront of the UK retail market for luggage and leather goods is Mulberry mulberry, common name for the Moraceae, a family of deciduous or evergreen trees and shrubs, often climbing, mostly of pantropical distribution, and characterized by milky sap. Several genera bear edible fruit, e.g. PLC. The Somerset firm has suffered a torrid time over recent years, closing stores across the world and withdrawing from some major markets, including the US, but has recovered sufficiently to record its first pre-tax profit in 8 years in its half year ending 30th September 2004. This report estimates that the value of the UK market for hand luggage and leather goods increased by just 1.1% from 2003 to 2004. It has already been noted that its principal threat is that of cheap imports, but the manufacturing industry also suffers from unreliable supplies of raw materials, particularly good quality local hides. In addition, it needs to invest heavily in complying with strict environmental standards. Suffering low profit margins, the value of UK manufacturers' sales of luggage, handbags and the like, saddlery sad·dler·y n. pl. sad·dler·ies 1. Equipment, such as saddles and harnesses, for horses. 2. A shop that sells tack. 3. The craft or business of one that makes or sells tack. and harness fell by 11.5% from 2002 to 2003 and, as is the case in most UK manufacturing industries manufacturing industries npl → industrias fpl manufactureras manufacturing industries npl → industries fpl de transformation , it must concentrate on the quality, design-led end of the market since it is unable to compete on price. This report forecasts that the hand luggage and leather goods market will increase by 5.5% between 2005 and 2009. Companies mentioned in the report include the following: -- Antler antler: see horn. Ltd -- Allders -- Carlton Travel Goods Ltd -- Dewhurst Dent PLC -- LVMH Fashion Group UK Ltd -- Mulberry Group PLC -- Samsonite Ltd -- Shilton Holdings PLC -- Pittards PLC -- Jane Shilton -- Tula Bags Ltd -- Coopers of Stortford -- Gucci -- Braccialini -- Coach Inc -- Danier Leather Inc -- Furla SpA -- Lancel -- Longchamp -- Mazzini -- The Leather Factory Inc -- Tommy Hilfiger Thomas Jacob Hilfiger (born March 24, 1951 in Elmira, New York) is a world-famous American fashion designer and creator of the eponymous "Tommy Hilfiger" and "Tommy" brands. Biography Hilfiger was born March 24, 1951 and raised in Elmira, New York. Corporation -- VIP Industries Ltd For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c26530 |
|
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion