AS the twin obstacles of cheap imports and high labour costs continue to challenge the long term viability of this country's clothing industry, one Irish company has come up with what its directors believe to be a credible solution to the problem of rapid response to customers' requirements.
Gerrard (Tailoring) Ltd was set up by partners Brendan Garland and Jim Byrne in 1989 to market and sell the traditional product of Irish manufacturers, such as tweed jackets and overcoats.
In the early part of this decade, the business sought to expand by adding to its range of suits and blazers of a quality matching that produced by Italian companies which have seized a large share of the Irish market.
Unfortunately, say Gerrard's owners, "it proved impossible to replicate the quality of garments obtainable elsewhere", even though the necessary manufacturing equipment had already been acquired and set up in Ireland.
Literally returning to the drawing board, Gerrard devised a fresh range of quality menswear using fabrics sourced from Ireland, Britain and Italy. But having failed to secure finished garments of sufficiently high standard here, all the clothing is now to be made by Italian manufacturers.
One of Gerrard's previous suppliers in its earlier venture was Filton Ltd, which attracted BES support and invested in new technology. Although this particular enterprise failed, some of the investors from that scheme have now provided further support for Gerrard, enabling the company to fund its stock facilitation service, as well as its holdings of cloth on site with its manufacturing partners.
One of the principal challenges facing any clothing firm, particularly when the garments are manufactured overseas, is guaranteeing supply to retailers as quickly as possible. Gerrard's new partner, Lombardo, which is based on the Naas Road's Carriglea Industrial Estate in Dublin and focuses on the sales and marketing of the new clothing range, has committed itself to offering a three day turnaround service; no more than 72 hours should pass from the moment any item is ordered to its arrival in the shop which has made the request.
Such a development is very much in line with changes which have been taking place recently throughout the clothing industry. At the moment, the trend among retail outlets is to dispense with on site storage in favour of central depots which are notified of a specific shop's needs at the end of each day's trading. Through Lombardo, Gerrard aims to replicate this service to its retail customers, thereby ensuring that speedy re ordering even of individual garments is a possibility.
The gamble for Lombardo is predicting at the start of each season how much stock should be held for the months ahead, based on likely demand from customers throughout the country.
However, the company's directors Terry Loane and David Curtis say they are confident that this new undertaking will be successful, given that demand from Irish retailers for Gerrard's latest menswear line has been considerable.
Having shown the range to interested buyers during the past fortnight, Lombardo is now set to arrange supplies over the weeks ahead to a large number of menswear shops, including Monaghan's in Dublin which will be devoting a display area to the Gerrard collection under its own label.
In addition, a number of other outlets, such as the Brown Thomas group, Louis Copeland and John Taylor, are expected to sell the Gerrard clothing line under their own in house labels.
