R.M.Williams plans to double its workforce and increase local production partners, as its new leadership team sets a firm commitment to Australian manufacturing.
The company is currently evaluating opportunities to scale its 10,000sqm manufacturing facility in Adelaide and double its current factory workforce to 1000.
R.M.Williams has also re-introduced a Certificate III in leather to South Australia in a bid to upskill future recruits.
Parent company Tattarang, which acquired R.M.Williams for a reported $190 million in 2020, has appointed a new leadership team to drive the long-term strategy.
“We made some pretty courageous commitments to Australian manufacturing when we bought the business,” Tattarang CEO John Hartman said. “We’re on that journey. It’s a tough journey but when you see the team we have in our workshop, R.M.Williams is really that jewel in the crown of Australian manufacturing.”
Chief operating officer Tara Moses and chief sustainability officer Angela Winkle have been onboarded to the team this half, with CEO Paul Grossman marking his first full year with the business.
Moses joined the company from Red Wing Boots in the United States, which manufactures up to two million boots onshore per year. Moses said R.M.Williams will take a double-barrelled approach to scale its Australian operations.
In addition to its Adelaide manufacturing site, the brand has 17 Australian production partners and suppliers.
“We want to continue expansion here locally in South Australia and continue to expand within Australia,” Moses confirmed. "It's quite an honour to be part of this organisation at this time and space, where we're growing and expanding Australia Made."