Dickies enters into proposal to wind up EMEA business

VF Corporation, the parent company of Dickies Workwear, has announced a proposal to discontinue and wind up its EMEA Dickies Workwear business.

This might affect 280 employees based in the Williamson-Dickie EMEA HQ at Midsomer Norton and elsewhere in the UK, as well as those working for Williamson-Dickie in France, Germany and the UAE.

The proposals mean that all roles at the UK site are at risk of redundancy, so this will now be the subject of consultation with employees.

The decision to put forward this proposal was not taken lightly. It follows a thorough review of the Dickies Workwear business in EMEA, which concluded the current business model is not in line with financial performance expectations.

If the proposals are adopted, it is expected that full business closure in the UK will be completed by March 31, 2021.

Williamson-Dickie Europe, originally called Clares, was founded in 1900 in Wells, in Somerset, to provide the agricultural industry with hardware and work clothing.

In the 1980s the business was acquired by Williamson-Dickie Manufacturing, based in Texas, before its acquisition by VF Corporation in 2017.

VF is one of the world’s largest apparel, footwear and accessories companies, with brands including Vans, The North Face, Timberland and Dickies.

VF has a strong presence in the UK and still has around 1,800 employees, roughly 90 owned and leased stores and 10 offices and showrooms throughout the UK, in addition to the EMEA Dickies Workwear business.