Burberry scraps plans for Leeds manufacturing site

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
May 3, 2019

Burberry has decided to sell 10 acres of land it owns in Leeds, putting an end to the prospect of building a major manufacturing site in the city.

The luxury fashion house, known for its check print, said the site next to the Grade I listed Temple Works building is not suitable to support its plans, which included opening a state-of-the-art manufacturing and weaving facility for its signature trench coat.

Temple Works had been earmarked for a complete overhaul that would have replaced the label’s manufacturing sites in Castleford and Keighley. The brand had announced an initial investment of £50m and plans to employ more than 1,000 people there.

But in 2017 Burberry said it had allowed the development option on the building to lapse. The company still retained an interest in the adjacent land package, which is now to be sold to an unnamed buyer.

Burberry chief operation and financial officer Julie Brown said: “We can confirm that we have decided to sell the land we own in central Leeds. After a detailed review, we concluded that the site is not suitable to support our plans.

“We remain committed to Yorkshire and the UK, and as part of this we will continue to invest in our existing manufacturing operations in Castleford and Keighley, home to our iconic Burberry Heritage trench coat.”

Burberry said it will also continue to grow its business services site that opened in Leeds in 2017. The office currently houses about 400 staff across finance, HR, procurement, customer services and IT.