Eighty knitwear workers will be shown the door – the last of a dying breed whose numbers on the company pay roll in any week of the heyday production era of the 1960s could be counted at around 2,000.

It will end the production of garments under the Pringle name that began in 1815 – the year of the Battle of Waterloo.

Pringle's Hong Kong chief executive officer Douglas Fang was at the mill on Monday to break the news to two shifts. His words were a blow – but not entirely unexpected. Mill workers always know when times are slack.

The company has just carried out a major review of its manufacturing operation in Hawick and preliminary results from that review point to closure.

All that will be left of Pringle in Hawick will be a head office and finance and custom services operations with a staff of around 30.

Mr Fang said: "Any decision to close the operation is not one we would take lightly, but due to changing customer demands and the competitiveness of the industry, we have to consider this possibility.

"We are operating in an extremely competitive global market. We are determined to restore Pringle to its rightful position as a truly wonderful luxury brand, but there are some hard decisions which may have to be taken for the long-term development of the brand."

Pringle – once the crown in the Dawson International empire but sold in 2000 to the Fang Brothers – has seen a number of dramatic changes in its focus over the years. Some have worked, some have not, according to industry experts.

And since the Fang takeover there have been problems, according to one insider.

He told us: "The company has continually changed its focus and since 2000 the company hasn't known in what direction it has been going – they simply haven't had a clue. This news did not come out of the blue – it has been self-evident that it was going to happen."

Pringle won't concede it is selling Hawick short.

Mr Fang commented: "We have made significant investments in Pringle since buying the company in 2000 and we have strongly supported the Hawick plant over the years. Our business model and our brand have changed dramatically over the years. The growth that we have achieved in other parts of the business has come from a much more comprehensive ready-to-wear apparel collection and we simply must respond to the changing nature of the market."

There have been calls for the Scottish Government to intervene and finance minister John Swinney extended a planned visit to the Borders yesterday for a teatime meeting with company managers.

But Hawick's Conservative MSP at Holyrood, John Lamont, claimed the Fang management team had refused to have earlier talks.

He said: "Concerns were raised earlier in the year about Pringle's future in Hawick.