M&S had no choice but to alter its buying policy

VARIOUS letters (Yorkshire Post, November 24) have regretted the policy of Marks & Spencer to source their supplies from the Far East and altering the beloved policy of buying British.

Sadly, customers are not generally interested in the source of the supply. They look at a garment, see that it is just as suitable for their needs and compare the price.

The price is what counts in the minds of most shoppers and if they can buy a two-piece suit for the cost of a Marks & Spencer jacket at perhaps Next, Debenhams, John Lewis or any other high street shop, then unfortunately Marks & Spencer will lose out.

The buyers at M&S had no choice, really, because English manufacturers could not compete.

The cost of the material alone was often more than the cost of the finished garment made in China in days gone by.

Personally, having been a clothing manufacturer myself, I was just as devastated as anyone else in the 1960s to discover this fact.

However, things have moved on and it may be that soon British firms will be able to compete – providing, of course, that the unions allow modern working practices to prevail.

What I did find disappointing when I read about it was the young man with a bright idea called “The Lazy Camper”, 
which has proved a great 
success, was that his supply source was China.

I couldn’t understand why there was no single item which he could have found to buy that was made in England!

From: Peter Hyde, Driffield, East Yorkshire.

THE death toll in the fire in the Asian clothing factory should prick the consciences of those firms who use these sweat shops to make the goods they sell at a massive profit to the Western world. If they had any morals 
they would ensure that the workplaces concerned were not death traps.