It said it would concentrate on women's clothing, outdoor sportswear and smart casual menswear. The company said on Thursday that its womenswear business continued to perform well, but menswear had been more difficult. It was forced to close about 15 factories and lay off some 4,000 workers, the end of a 30-year relationship with the retailer. The company said it had been carefully considering its options against this background and it had concluded that the management takeover was the best solution. Last year Baird reported a pre-tax loss of 91.7m, compared with a profit of 25.9m in 1998.
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