Links to the Past

Clothing production has a long history in the Rhondda with the most successful being Alfred Policoff (Wales) which was based in Ynyswen in the Rhondda. It was financed by a Treasury loan of £140,000 under the Special Areas Amendment (Act) of 1937 a purchase of £55,000 in shares and a loan of £20,000 from the Nuffield Foundation. Production began on March 6, 1939, and during the following three months the mostly young women workforce reached 933, 700 of whom lived within a two-mile radius of the factory. For many years this trend continued with most of the workers living within walking distance of the factory. As the company grew to almost 1500 at its peak, those who lived in other areas of the Rhondda Valleys, including Tonyrefail and Gilfach Goch, were brought to work in a fleet of double-decker buses. 

Policoff had a long-standing relationship with Burberry, which had been established in 1901 and from 1952 the two companies shared premises in London. Both companies were acquired by the Great Universal Stores in 1948 but retained their separate trading names. 

Reductions in orders for the military which had made up a significant part of the Policoff order book and more rapid changes in fashion continued to challenge the clothing industry as more formal clothing was replaced by less formal products as young people became more affluent and fashion conscious.  As part of the strategy to maintain clothing manufacturing in Ynyswen, Policoff started to make polo shirts for the brand name Burberry.

By 1989 the company name Policoff was changed to Burberry and the Policoff brand ended. Burberry continued at Ynyswen for the next 18 years before the decision was taken to close the factory in 2007 when 304 highly skilled workers lost their jobs.  The significant majority of these were forced to seek employment in non-related occupations such as supermarkets and nursing homes, often as part time workers. A small number found work in other sewing industries that necessitated traveling outside of the Rhondda.  Consequently, high level clothing manufacturing skills are still available in the Rhondda but only in a small and decreasing number of people.