The Leicester city council will establish a £300,000 training academy, called the Leicester Fashion Technology Academy (LFTA), in Spinney Hills, where many of the city’s troubled textile and apparel manufacturers are based. The council is working with training provider Fashion Enter Ltd and clothing company Ethically Sourced Products Ltd on the scheme.
The pilot project will offer apprenticeships and accredited training for people working in the local textile industry. The new academy, based on the top floor of Ethically Sourced Products’ factory premises in Stonebridge Street will also work closely with local textiles and fashion manufacturing businesses.
More than 1,000 garment workshops exist in the city, which is home to the second-largest concentration of textile and fashion manufacturing businesses in the United Kingdom. The sector has been in the spotlight over the last year over concerns about worker exploitation by some textile company managements and the government and the city council continued a blame game.
The council says it is working to improve conditions in the industry locally and recognise its importance to the city economy, according to a report.
Fashion-Enter Ltd, a not-for-profit social enterprise based in London and Newtown, Wales, is recognised as a centre of excellence for the development of skills in the fashion and textile industries. Fashion-Enter set up an academy north London in 2015 and Leicester will be the second city it has launched such an operation.
The new academy will offer people the opportunity to work towards entry-level qualifications in industry skills including pattern-making, fabric inspection, laying and cutting, machine maintenance and stitching.
LFTA is scheduled to open in early summer, following refurbishment of the new premises.
