Pittards saw its revenues go up by 6 percent to £38.2 million (€46.3m-$60.7m) in 2011, but the operating profit remained stable at £2.7 million (€3.3m-$4.3m) because of the increased cost of materials. In particular, Pittards and other tanners with factories in Ethiopia rushed to buy and process as much material as possible for export after the Ethiopian government announced last September that it was going to impose a 150 percent tariff on exports of crust from mid-December. This forced the company to pay high market prices to replenish its inventories and to adjust its production. It will no longer process Ethiopian crust at its British factory in Yeovil, and it will have to source more bovine and goat skins from elsewhere. Its Ethiopian tannery, which Pittards bought in 2009. has already taken more sheepskins to the finished stage for export to customers.

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