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Boot maker Dr Martens is wielding the axe again – just months after announcing 150 head office job cuts
Famous shoe maker Dr Martens is giving British staff the boot and handing the work to India.
Around 70 employees based at the London-based company’s head office have been told they are being axed. It believed most work in IT roles. The firm plans to hire a wave of workers in India to do the tasks instead – with plans to set-up a “global technology centre” in the country. It comes as Dr Martens put 150 jobs at risk in October in a redundancy drive to slash costs.
Two new bosses at Dr Martens have also shared more than £3million in “golden hellos”, it emerged at the time. Incoming chief executive Ije Nwokorie and new finance boss Giles Wilson were happy to take the joining payments, the firm’s accounts revealed. Mr Nwokorie, who started his new job on January 6, got the money despite already being at the firm as chief brand officer.
A Dr Martens spokesperson said: “To set Dr Martens up to support future growth, we are establishing a company-owned Global Technology Centre which will ensure we have the right operating structure and skills in place. This will involve moving certain activities to India, impacting some valued full-time and contracted employees in the UK. We understand this will have a personal impact on some of our people, and we are committed to providing comprehensive support to help them through this transition.”
Dr Martens has long traded on its British heritage, tracing its roots back to the Griggs family and boot making in the town of Wollaston, Northamptonshire, in 1901. But the firm became iconic after happening upon the design for a unique air-cushioned sole, devised by German soldier Dr Klaus Maertens while convalescing from a broken foot. Taking its name from date of its inception, April 1, 1960, the eight-holed 1460 Dr Martens boot went to become a global hit.
While a small amount of the firms’ footwear is still produced in the UK, most is now manufactured in Asia. Dr Martens has been struggling but has begun to find its feet again. The firm saw a partial recovery in sales over the crucial Christmas period amid a turnaround its US and wholesale divisions. Revenue fell 3% to £260million in the 13 weeks to the end of December, an improvement on an 18% in the previous quarter.
