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Here’s their latest press release:
LOSSES HIT £40M AS FOOT AND MOUTH IMPACT WIDENS
Despite the school half term and two May holiday weekends, the cost of
closing footpaths across Britain continued to mount last month with
retailers and suppliers of outdoor clothing and equipment reporting losses
of over £40 million according to the latest figures from the Outdoor
Industries Association (OIA).
"Outdoor retailers were among the first to suffer as walkers, climbers,
riders and other outdoor enthusiasts were barred from public rights of way
and access land. This latest survey clearly shows the knock on effect on
manufacturers, distributors and other suppliers" commented OIA’s Andrew
Maxted. "Over four in five suppliers report substantial cancellations of
orders for May with turnover down by over 80% in some cases. Across
retailers and their suppliers we see over half of our members reporting
sales down by more than 20% on the previous year."
"Regrettably a number of businesses have already closed and almost a fifth
of members report laying off staff" Maxted continued. "Notwithstanding the
slowly improving access in our most popular walking and climbing areas, the
majority of OIA members believe it will be into the autumn before we see
trade returning to ‘normal’ levels and there are growing concerns that
substantial volumes of unsold stocks will continue to cause problems through
next winter."
"Clearly the outdoor sectors’ cash flow is severely constrained and will
continue to be so for the foreseeable future. The recent government
announcement that grants may be available through its £50m Business Recovery
Fund to assist with marketing support and to help meet interest payments are
clearly welcome and pressing ministers for clarification of how, and when,
such help may be forthcoming" concluded Maxted.
Ends
Note: The Outdoor Industries Association conducted its third Foot
and Mouth Impact Survey among over 300 members companies involved in
retailing, manufacturing or supplying outdoor clothing and equipment across
the UK by post between 25 May – 06 June 2001.
For further details of this or the previous months’ surveys contact Andrew
Maxted or Stephen Inskip at the OIA tel 020 8842 1111, fax 020 8842 0090 or
email andrew@go-outdoors.org.uk.
ANDREW MAXTED
Director – Marketing & Development
Outdoor Industries Association
Morritt House – 58 Station Approach
South Ruislip – RUISLIP – HA4 6SA – UK
tel: +44 (0)20 8842 1111
fax: +44 (0)20 8842 0090
e-mail: andrew@go-outdoors.org.uk
web: www.go-outdoors.org.uk
