Workwear Express Creates 100 New Jobs in the North East as Sales Surge
Travel and hospitality workers reinvent themselves at the Durham workwear giant during the pandemic
(Durham, England – June 16, 2021) Workwear Express is recruiting an additional 100 staff on the back of a record year after partnering with St John Ambulance and Royal Voluntary Service to kit out COVID-19 vaccinators and volunteers. The personalised clothing and workwear giant has seen a 30 per cent increase in sales in the last 12 months whilst supporting some of the UK’s top brands through the Covid pandemic.
Workwear Express is the nation’s top supplier of personalised workwear, promotional clothing and PPE to the healthcare, industrial and hospitality sectors. The hiring spree comes after the company had already taken on more than 100 staff since last March, with many of the new recruits coming from the travel and hospitality sectors — industries that were clobbered during the pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted enterprise across the globe. Industries such as healthcare and home delivery services scrambled to adapt to the ever-changing circumstances, resulting in a booming market for personalised Workwear Express products. The Durham-based firm is expanding its 300-strong team in the UK to fulfil the demand.
Since the start of the pandemic, more than 300,000 St John Ambulance volunteers have rallied to offer their support in hospital wards, on ambulances and by working with the NHS to administer jabs for the vaccination programme.
In addition, every day, over 2,000 Steward Volunteers are needed to streamline the vaccination programme. The Royal Voluntary Service lends its assistance by guiding people at vaccination sites and performing other non-clinical tasks.
In contrast, the travel and hospitality industries experienced a dramatic slump as nations closed their borders, hotels shuttered their doors, and people were restricted to ordering take-out and eating at home. The workers in those sectors were some of the hardest hit during the pandemic and needed to think outside the box to survive. Due to their excellent customer service skills, those in the travel and hospitality industries turned out to be a good fit for Workwear Express, which gave them the opportunity to reinvent themselves.
Steven Curran, CEO of Workwear Express, said: “We are looking forward to onboarding our new recruits. One of our key strengths at Workwear Express is our unique insight into clients’ needs, coupled with offering the best people and innovative technology. We empower each and every one of our Workwear Express colleagues and treat them as individuals with fair compensation, generous benefits and a stimulating environment where they can thrive. We believe that when we care about our employees, they will apply the same level of care to our customers — here at Workwear Express, you’re not just starting a job, you’re starting a career.”
Andrew Ward, the Chairman, established Workwear Express in 1990 at the age of 17. The company has since mushroomed into the leading tech-based supplier of custom clothing in the UK. Workwear Express recently invested £3 million in a groundbreaking digital platform and website, launching one of the UK’s first progressive web apps in the sector to improve the customer experience and streamline the buying process.
Independently owned Workwear Express maintains a customer base of over 600,000 clients in multiple sectors across its e-commerce, corporate and international divisions, and serves businesses in more than 100 different countries. The firm aims to become Europe’s most successful customised workwear, PPE and promotional clothing provider, with an eye on international expansion, planning to launch in North America in 2021. Workwear Express celebrates 31 years of operation in 2021.