LABOUR MP Gordon Prentice is to seek advice on what the Government can do to help the textile industry in East Lancashire when he visits a factory in his Pendle constituency this week.
He will discuss the matter with management and workers at Albert Hartley's, in Barnoldswick, on Friday.
The factory, now part of the Coates Vyella Group, is a good example of the battle facing textile firms to survive.
Although it employs 97 people, the workforce has dropped sharply since the early 1990s after 30 job losses earlier this year and 144 redundancies in 1996.
As he prepared for the visit, Mr Prentice said: "The threat to our textile finishing firms from European Union plans to impose duties on the import of unbleached cotton cloth never materialised, but there are still huge challenges facing the industry. High Street retailers are always looking for the cheapest sources and competition in the High Street is cut throat.
"The local economy has changed beyond recognition in the space of 20 years but textiles are still important.
"I want to hear from the people at the sharp end what the Government can do, in practical terms, to help local firms."
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