LWG Covid-19 Impacts Survey Results
06 July 2020
In an effort to ensure our group continues to respond to our members’ concerns, we issued a survey on industry-wide impacts of the Covid-19 outbreak in April 2020. Over the four-week response period, we received input from 229 LWG Member Companies, representing almost 30% of the total membership. The breakdown of responses is as below:
Impacts & Recovery
95% of respondents reported a moderate to severe impact on business operations, including a majority advising that their order volumes have decreased by over 30%. On average, members reported they expect to be able to return to 80% of their pre-coronavirus production levels within 18 months.
Biggest Challenges
Given the widespread global impact of the Covid-19 outbreak, the leather manufacturing industry reported a range of different challenges that will need to be addressed in the future, including:
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Changes in consumer spending and habits
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Ensuring the health and safety of the workforce
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Developing new products for a new marketplace
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Increased cost of materials and shipping
What Our Members Want
As a membership organisation, it is important to us that we take our members’ needs into account when planning for the future. Respondents to the Covid-19 Impacts Survey suggested the following actions:
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Provide updates on the global business situation within the leather industry
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Extending audit certifications for leather manufacturers
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Promoting LWG to a wider audience
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Offering online meetings and training webinars in lieu of physical meetings.
In response to these results, we issued a 12-month extension to all leather manufacturers holding a valid certificate of membership on 18th May 2020.