John Laing of Hawick has laid off more than half of its workforce after going into receivership. A 175-year-old textile company, John Laing is one of the country's leading producers of high-quality cashmere garments. According to company spokesman, this has been necessitated due to increased competition from cheap foreign producers like China. Blair Nimmo and Tony Friar, of KPMG Corporate Recovery, have been appointed joint receivers. The company, which has a turnover of £3.5 million and employed 95 people, will continue to trade while a new buyer is sought. Mr Nimmo said: "The business had been incurring significant losses over the last few years, largely due to some bad debts and
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| increased foreign competition. Recent cash flow difficulties left the directors with no choice but to request the appointment of receivers. Regrettably, the joint receivers have had to make 52 staff redundant with immediate effect." But Mr. Nimmo said he is optimistic the firm can survive. He added, "John Laing is a long established business with an excellent reputation and we are hopeful that with the support of customers, suppliers and the remaining staff (43), we can preserve the business as a going concern and quickly find a buyer, therefore safeguarding as many of the remaining jobs as possible." The cashmere sector contributes more than £100 million to the Scottish economy annually and employs about 4,000 people. 
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