Alfred Sargent - GONE!

[Leather man]

The problem english shoemakers face is that there is only a very tiny home market. Even the wealthy are no longer "well heeled" outside of London. I believe that in London there are still people willing to buy good shoes but that's about it. Even Loakes prices are baulked at by people who are by anybodies standards rich.

The old phrase in quotation marks says it all. Not so long ago you could tell the cut of a man's jib from his shoes. Now it will be from the car he drives.

So, you can see , it is not a lack of money in the country that is the problem but a new culture in which the quality of shoes does not matter to anyone anymore. That is why AS' biggest market is export - and I suspect this is true for all the english shoemakers.

 

[Groover]

Those made redundant are STILL waiting for their payment:

http://www.northantset.co.uk/rushden...for.4864373.jp

 

[1BNY23]

Not sure of AS viability or fairness to their former employees, but I do know they are still shipping to distributors like Pediwear. I just ordered a pair and asked for a response to my concerns regarding AS and received the following: Thank you for your e-mail. We have had other customers advising us of the same situation with the Alfred Sargent business. However we are still getting stock from the factory and we have not been informed of any situation at the factory. Trust that the above is helpful, and that we may be of further assistance to you in the future. Meanwhile thank you for your interest in our company. Regards -- Carol Bentley Pediwear Shoe Centre Online email:[email protected] http://www.pediwear.co.uk Tel:+44 (0)1422 253744 Fax:+44 (0)1422 253744 24 Westgate Halifax West Yorkshire HX1 1DJ UK

 

[Groover]

It appears that Sargents have still not paid the employees which were made redundant in Nov 08, which the case potentially going to tribunal:

http://www.northantset.co.uk/rushden...ent.4971798.jp

 

[dkzzzz]

Some one is going to buy AS name and produce shoes in Asia or India.

 

[chowchow]

just ordered a pair of AS boot from shipton. hope it will arrive withing a few days

 

[xavier_06]

The latest I have heard is...

G&G are pulling out from Sargents. The mess the Sargents are making of this situation is impacting badly on G&G's image.

Sargents are being taken to court by the tax man. As far as I know the hearing is next week over possible fraud.

This is only hearsay...but the sources are pretty good!

 

[jasonmarshalljazz]

forgive my ignorance but what does G&G have to do with AS?

 

[Groover]

Originally Posted by jasonmarshalljazz

forgive my ignorance but what does G&G have to do with AS?

G&G rent floor space at the Sargents factory in Rushden, in addition they also use some of the sargents staff to produce their shoes.

Take a look at this link for more information:
http://www.styleforum.net/showthread...t=edward+green

 

[jasonmarshalljazz]

thanx

 

[xavier_06]

I was speaking to one of Sargents current employees this morning.....

Alfred Sargent & Sons has gone into liquidation today and will be reopening under a different name on Monday.

The work force have been told that if they speak to the press or any of the workers that have been made redundant they will be sacked!!!

I thought this sort of thing wasn't possible in a modern country???

 

[Groover]

Originally Posted by xavier_06

I was speaking to one of Sargents current employees this morning.....

Alfred Sargent & Sons has gone into liquidation today and will be reopening under a different name on Monday.

The work force have been told that if they speak to the press or any of the workers that have been made redundant they will be sacked!!!

I thought this sort of thing wasn't possible in a modern country???

Will have to see what next week brings.

Sacking someone for speaking to a member of the public (ex employee or not) would not stand up in court in the slightest. Scare tactics in my opinion because of all the bad press they've received of the redundancies.

 

[Avebury]

I doubt if that would happen in Europe. Will I buy from them? Now, probably not.

 

[mxgreen]

Originally Posted by Groover

Will have to see what next week brings. Sacking someone for speaking to a member of the public (ex employee or not) would not stand up in court in the slightest. Scare tactics in my opinion because of all the bad press they've received of the redundancies.
What are the labor laws in England? In the U.S., in a right to work state an employee could be fired in such a situation. And, I wouldn't blame the employer. The situation described is dire and and an employee's loose lips could make the situation worse.

 

[Groover]

Originally Posted by mxgreen

What are the labor laws in England? In the U.S., in a right to work state an employee could be fired in such a situation. And, I wouldn't blame the employer. The situation described is dire and and an employee's loose lips could make the situation worse.

with the shoe industry in Northamptonshire being so incestuous news of this nature would find it's way out very quickly, regardless of who said it.

In this case it would be very difficult for sargents to prove who actually said what, and given it's recent history of not honoring the UK redundancy rules with regards to payment their whole stance/behaviour would work against them.

Quite shocking behaviour from them.