30 Jun 2009

Line 7 rejects any offer of help from Government

3:21 pm on 30 June 2009

New Zealand clothing firm Line 7 has rejected any future help from the Government.

The company has been placed in receivership and 120 jobs are threatened.

Prime Minister John Key said on Tuesday that he was prepared to look at offering assistance to the company if an approach was made, as it is an important brand.

However, Mr Key said there was a preference for a commercial solution to be found for a commercial problem.

Line 7 chief executive Ross Munro says it is not the role of the Government or the taxpayer to prop up the company after its own mistakes.

Mr Munro says the company, which was founded in 1963, has made its own bed and needs to lie in it.

Line 7 says it was blindsided by a fall in the New Zealand dollar and did not recover.