- Call us on 0121 355 6026 or email hello@quarsh.com
Barrie Knitwear is one of the oldest cashmere knitwear manufacturers in Scotland, founded in 1903, and have been owned by Chanel since 2012. We are a fashion business that is renowned worldwide for our outstanding ability to combine exceptional technical skills and traditional expertise to create complex couture cashmere garments.
Barrie are the reference in luxury knitwear, working with and supplying multiple, global brands. At our headquarters in Hawick, Scotland, we take the designs and visions from those brands and turn them into production reality through the talent and knowledge of our teams.
We take the highest quality cashmere yarns and use state of the art knitting machines, combined with technical and hand skills, to produce a wide range of garments. The items we make are often highly complex, which demands a high degree of skill and attention to detail across every aspect of production. Our fundamental focus as an organisation is on excellence and premium quality, and that underpins everything we do.
This attention to quality and excellence is why we have always focussed so much on the quality of our training. We opened a dedicated training academy at our site in Hawick in 2012, and we now want to open an academy and production unit in Leicester.
In August 2023 we are coming to Leicester to open a training academy and production. This is a long-term investment for us, to help us grow our overall capacity within the UK. The growth is being driven by an increasing demand for the high-quality, high-value knitwear we are known for and are great at making.
Our site in Leicester will feel like an extension of our original home in Hawick, and the locations will operate to the same standards and processes throughout. This is an exciting chapter for Barrie. It’s an opportunity to bring a whole new group of people together to join us in the next chapter in the Barrie story.
In Hawick we currently employ over 260 people across all departments, and we are still growing.
In Leicester we are now hiring for permanent, salaried jobs in key training roles within the academy. These training roles will be at the heart of establishing our Leicester operation, as well as supporting the growth of the site for many years to come.
We believe in building for the long-term; that’s why we invest in training our staff, and that’s why we have continued to invest in the equipment and technology to make our production environment stay at the forefront of the industry. This is part of our DNA and we continue to build on our excellence whilst always seeking opportunities to invest in our people.
Historically, our people have stayed with the business and grown with us, with many of our most senior managers starting their careers with Barrie on the shop floor. The skills and experience of our people is one of the things that makes us great, so we believe in nurturing and developing that wherever we can.
Our full-time working hours are 39 hours per week, Monday to Friday, and we can accommodate flexible working patterns. As we grow in Leicester we aim to offer greater flexibility, but to start this new business we need people who can initially work full-time.
We offer 33 days of annual leave (including public holidays), a flexible benefits scheme, employer pension contribution and life insurance.
We want your expertise and skills in linking to help us build our new training academy and production unit in Leicester.
Right now we are looking for Linker Trainers, with at least two years of experience in body linking for knitwear. Today we have a training academy at our facility in Hawick, so we know the processes, practices and tools needed to set up and run a new academy. However, what we do need is additional people with linking skills and communication skills to help establish our new academy in Leicester.
If you have those skills, this is your chance to use them and become part of creating another high quality centre of excellence within the Barrie family.
As an experienced linker, you’ll understand what we are looking for: you’ll be meticulous, detail-orientated and able to work to really high quality standards. Your linking experience might be current, or it might be from a previous job, we are open to both options. Wherever you learned your linking skills, you will need to be flexible and willing to learn as we work with a wide variety of technical garments. In addition, the ability to turn your hands to new things while maintaining the highest degree of accuracy is absolutely vital to us.
To train others, communication and people skills are absolutely essential. Being able to work well with others, to pass on your knowledge and understanding, and to measure the progress of your trainees are the core capabilities of the job. You might have worked as a trainer before, or have learned your abilities to pass on knowledge by being a team leader, supervisor or similar. You may well have picked up your training and communication skills separately from your linking skills. We can help you develop as a trainer which will allow you to pass on your linking skills to others.
As part of this trainer role you will need to spend some time at our factory in Hawick for induction and training when you first start, You will have the opportunity to learn from our other trainers, and all travel and accommodation will be paid for.
We are recruiting for the trainer positions first, but will be looking for linkers soon, so do get in touch even if the trainer role isn’t right for you.
Getting in touch
Send us your details at barrieknitwear@quarsh.com and we will get back to you as soon as we can.