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Baby Deer to cease production

BABY DEER in Stranraer, Britain's last bulk-maker of children's shoes, will cease production in a month.

Remaining ten production staff were told on Thursday that once the present orders batch is completed, they will be made redundant.

From then, other than for some specialist work, the firm will import all their shoes from the Far East.

Already 85 per cent of their output comes from there.

Managing director Alan Robinson said price pressure from the High Street stores, which Baby Deer supply, had meant that shoes had to be imported from the Far East.

At the same time, hit by the multiples, the little shops which stocked the company's own brand product were closing, so there were now few outlets for the Baby Deer own brand.