Two employees of RBTT bank, one company that imports its uniforms. -Carlington WilmotLeonardo Blair, Staff Reporter
SEVERAL LOCAL garment manufacturers have lost lucrative contracts valued at millions of dollars as more corporate firms ask overseas companies to make and supply uniforms for their employees.
Uniform manufacturers told The Sunday Gleaner last week that an increasing number of banks, including the Bank of Jamaica, Government agencies and business corporations have been taking their contracts overseas leaving local manufacturers out in the cold.
"At the end of last year we lost about $10 million worth of contracts," said Hyacinth Miller, a co-owner of New Farel's in St. Andrew.
"Most of our business is gone. All of those big places that we used to do contract work for, they are getting their uniforms made abroad now and it's putting us out of business. Right now we don't have one operator in the factory. There is no business. It is dead and about to be buried," adds Carmen Miller, one of her managers at the garment company.
Gary Fray, co-owner of Noel Fray and Sons Ltd. told The Sunday Gleaner that "We have experienced some major contract losses and some of them from big financial institutions who are the major supporters of the uniform market. We are talking about $8-$9 million per annum," he said.
"Banks, insurance companies, law firms, everybody is importing," said one representative of Spencer's Tailoring. "We have lost 98 per cent of our contracts. If we weren't doing alterations here we would have been bankrupt."
Many of the companies now sourcing from overseas said, however, that local manufacturers have not been able to meet the expectations of the multimillion-dollar uniform deals nor can they compete in price.
When The Sunday Gleaner contacted several business places this week, many declared that they would love to support the local manufacturers but said the range of choice, professionalism and ability to handle the million dollar contracts were lacking.
According to Kenloy Peart, division chief of administration and technical services at the Bank of Jamaica, local manufacturers need to come up to international standards. "Nobody is going to accept substandard products," he said.
In interviews with the bank's public relations director, Jacqueline Morgan and director of human resource administration, Novelette Panton, they declared that after 20 years of dealing with unsatisfactory workmanship from local manufacturers and late delivery, it was decided that the uniform contract would be put to tender and a better deal was found overseas.
Mr. Peart said as a result, the central bank had made significant savings. He declined to say how much.
"The space has changed and no longer can we think in terms of the Jamaican firm," he added. The bank was also quick to point out however that the uniforms for their security guards were still being made locally.
Most of the local manufacturers interviewed by The Sunday Gleaner maintained however that while they had some difficulty competing with overseas manufacturers, the quality of their products was up to international standards.
Some also complained that local lending institutions were making it extremely difficult for them to borrow money to invest in technologically -advanced machinery to suit the changing tastes of their clients.
"After putting in all our resources into the sector we get no financial help. Nobody wants to touch the garment industry," said Patricia Heath, a garment manufacturer in Old Harbour, St. Catherine.
"Right now we have a whole lot of uniforms here and we can't sell them. It's just too much and it's very off-putting. I want to see Jamaica thrive but they (Government) are not helping us. You buy material to come into the country and it costs you so much," she added.
One representative at the National Commercial Bank's head office in New Kingston explained that NCB has been sourcing their uniforms overseas since 1989 and said that at the time when they sought uniform manufacturers, there was no one available at the time who could deal with the volume of work.
"We have a staff of over 2,000. We got quotations but we had to select the best and the best offer came from overseas.
"One person approached us late last year with a proposal and they were sourcing their material from overseas too."
Representatives of the Bank of Nova Scotia declined to discuss their uniform contracts insisting that this was a private arrangement.
RBTT representatives also indicated that their uniforms are imported from Trinidad.
