Textile company John Haggas Plc has closed its Ebor Mill premises at Haworth with the loss of 38 jobs.

Managing director Brian Haggas blames the strength of the pound abroad for the closure of the Haworth factory, which spun acrylic yarn for the knitwear industry.

He says some of the 43 workers employed at Haworth were kept on, and other jobs have been created at the Ingrow factory.

"The net loss overall is probably about 20 jobs," he says. The strong pound has affected the whole company, which relies heavily on the export market. "Over 50 per cent of our trade is export, and in some areas as much as 90 per cent," says Mr Haggas.

"And our main markets are those where the pound is particularly strong, like Germany, France, Italy and Scandinavia. We will just have to wait and hope that Sterling comes down to a more realistic level.

"But in some areas we have actually increased the workforce by one or two here and there, especially on the fabric side and in dyeing," he says.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.