On 3rd December 2025, the FTA visited two outstanding Leicester factories: Barrie Knitwear Ltd and Ethically Sourced Products Limited with apprentices from NEXT.
Both visits were highly informative for our apprentices. They were introduced to the factories operations, work ethics, customer base, and the complete manufacturing process. The apprentices also had the valuable opportunity to work hands-on and operate the machinery.
The factories further provided insights into their compliance with safety, social, and quality standards, and in some cases, shared information related to production and material costs.
Feedback from Apprentices included:
- Hannah – “I enjoyed the Barry Knitwear visit. It was good to see the linking machines close up and see how they work.”
- Sophie – “The knitwear linking factory was really good, we were able to see the machines close-up to see how they work. Went through the whole process of linking. Really good we were able to have a go on the machine to see how it works.”
- Amy- “ Very informative visit and nice to see a different product group. The guest speakers were great and there was a good use of seeing both factories in the same building.”
Another highlight was seeing our past learners that are now employed at Barrie and observing how they’ve continued to develop their skills. Seeing them take the lead in explaining the linking machine to new apprentices really showed how much progress they have made.
Thank you to Barrie Knitwear Ltd and Ethically Sourced Products Limited for providing informative, on-site visits for our apprentices.