Family-run clothing firm to close after 115 years

The store will cease trading on 30 June, bosses said

A family-run clothing company has announced it will shut permanently after 115 years trading in Leicestershire.

The Irish Clothing Company said it had decided to shut its shop in Loughborough for the final time in the summer with the loss of 11 jobs.

The company was set up by businessman Joseph Brown in 1910 and remains under the stewardship of his grandson Tom Brown.

Mr Brown said the decision to close had been taken with "great sadness and heavy hearts".

He said various market forces and pressures had created "insurmountable odds" that the company could not overcome.

"We are immensely proud of the business we have built of the 115 years of our trading," Mr Brown said.

"It has been an incredible journey and one we will never forget."

Mr Brown thanked the business's customers but said: "It has been a privilege, but despite our best efforts we feel there is no way forward.

"A combination of market forces have been the reason for this - the rise of online sales, rising costs.

"So many independent clothing shops have already gone and we are the last man standing."

Three generations of the Brown family have run the business

The company started life with a small shop in Silver Street in Leicester, which then moved between various locations in the city over the years.

The company's clothing shop, in High Street, Leicester, finally closed in 2018 and was converted into a coffee shop, but the firm continued to trade in Church Gate in Loughborough.

Irish's Leicester army and navy store, in Silver Street, will close at the same time as the Loughborough shop on 30 June, Mr Brown added.

Irish occupied a prime spot at the end of Leicester's High Street until 2018