Bata back to base

The Bata Shoe Company of Ceylon Ltd. has moved its head office and warehouse back to Ratmalana and this has helped us to cut down a lot of unnecessary expenditure, said, its Managing Director, R. N. Mollo.

The head office and warehouse had to be shifted from Ratmalana in October 2004 after the workers launched a strike in June 2004. But since the atmosphere has returned to normalcy we decided to move the head office and warehouse to Ratmalana for easy management and to cut down unnecessary expenditure.

He said that the company is making a turnaround after the unrest and we have already settled our dues including the VRS payments to 140 workers amounting to Rs. 47 million.

At present we are upgrading the product, introducing new designs, styles and upgrading and renovating our stores to cater to the school season as well as for Christmas.

Now we don't import a lot of shoes as most of them are manufactured locally or purchased through contractors. For a year, we introduce 200-300 new designs which include children's shoes, rubber thongs, ladies shoes, men's and casual wear shoes as well.

We are planning to have the Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year contest on October 4 on a grand scale this year. We will be involved in the Scout Movement as well as we want to be involved with the people of the country we serve. Mollo said that we will be a force to reckon with in time to come.

The company uses the latest technology to manufacture high quality shoes complying with international standards while they are also exported to countries such as New Zealand, Fiji Islands, Papua New Guinea and the West Indies. Bata provides its staff a healthy working environment, welfare and other social facilities and we train our staff inhouse, send them for locally conducted courses, international seminars, study courses and conferences. All these measures have resulted in a well-trained and motivated staff of 600 with a lean management structure.

The Bata shoe organisation, the world's largest manufacturer and marketer of footwear has been in operation since 1894 in over 60 countries employing over 67,000 people.

The company has over 70 manufacturing units including shoe manufacturing plants, engineering plants, production of moulds, quality control laboratories, hosiery factories, product development centres and tanneries.

(SG)