A TAILOR is hoping the return of popular TV show Great British Sewing Bee will raise awareness of the industry.

Jill Phillips is the director of tailoring services and garment alterations centre, The Zip Yard, in Church Street.

With the BBC show back on TV screens, Jill is hoping it will bring interest to the industry and more people will look at pursuing a career in tailoring.

She said: “We often have to recruit seamstresses from Europe because we are unable to find anyone locally who has been professionally trained. There are a lot, of what I would call, home sewers out there but few with the professional training and experience we require, to produce the quality of work our customers expect.

“I hope shows like the Sewing Bee continue to change the public’s opinion of what sewing is and who does it.

“It inspires people to give sewing a try, and that gives me hope that young people may consider training for a career in tailoring or at least see the potential in what can achieved with a needle and thread.”