Lancashire workwear companies sign £12m collaborative deal

Preston-headquartered Alsico Group, one of the largest workwear manufacturers in Europe, has announced a multi-million pound deal that will see it move 90% of its fabric sourcing to fellow Lancashire firm Carrington.

The contract, worth more than £12m in its first two years, will move the supply of polyester cotton products to Adlington-based Carrington.

The company has been tasked with supplying two million metres of fabric in 2017, with scope to raise that figure to four million in 2018.

Prior to the deal, Alsico purchased technical products for flame retardant workwear and lightweight fabrics for use in the healthcare sector from Carrington.

Alsico chief executive David Toon said: “This is really great news for manufacturing in Lancashire – with two companies coming together to create high quality products and jobs in the UK.

“We operate at the premium end of the workwear market, requiring the highest quality fabrics and products which we know Carrington can deliver.”

He continued: “This was not an overnight decision, we have been working with Carrington for several years and have been impressed by the strength of the business and the strategic plans of their senior management team. We’re now looking forward to a long working relationship.”

Carrington recently announced that it will bump up its annual production capacity to over 50 million metres of fabric and invest £10m in its Lancashire HQ.

The company, which completed a recruitment drive in January that saw it take on 40 new employees, said the deal with Alsico will enable it to further increase staff numbers by 15%.

Carrington sales director Neil Davey commented: “Lancashire has such a strong heritage in the textile industry, it’s great to see the region again building such a strong reputation in the workwear sector.

“Our collaboration with Alsico is a natural partnership, not just because of our proximity but also due to the global ambitions and scale of both companies.”