Actor Ioan Gruffudd lends weight to campaign to save Burberry factory in Wales

Welsh actor Ioan Gruffudd has written to the boss of luxury fashion firm Burberry to request that the company reconsider its plans to close its Rhondda Valley factory in south Wales.

Gruffudd, the star of the Hornblower TV series and Hollywood films, including Fantastic Four and 102 Dalmations, is hoping to save 300 jobs at the Welsh plant which is due to close early next year.

Gruffudd said: “The news of the proposed closure of the factory in Treorchy saddens me immensely. I was raised in nearby Aberdare, and the experience of being immersed in such a vibrant and happy community has informed my life. I can only imagine what effect the loss of so many jobs would have on this great community,”

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GMB union, which has been campaigning against the factory closure, said it was delighted that Gruffudd, also the global face of Burberry, had backed its fight.

Mervyn Burnett, GMB organiser, said: “GMB and Burberry workers are overjoyed that Ioan Gruffudd has written to the company requesting that it chooses an alternative course of action to the closure of the Treorchy factory. GMB hopes Burberry management will now reconsider the closure proposals. GMB’s campaign will continue to secure this objective and each day that passes we gather more support for the campaign.”