Workwear company scoops four awards in a month

IncorporateWear (ICW) is celebrating after scooping four major awards in a month for transforming the look of two leading brands in the hospitality and transport industries.

ICW won the Aviation and Passenger Transport Design category at the Professional Clothing Industry Association Worldwide (PCiAW) awards for creating and delivering a complete re-design for Stagecoach drivers and inspectors.

The West Midlands-based company also returned from the PCiAW ceremony in Porto, Portugal, with the Hospitality and Leisure Uniform Design award for its recently rolled-out Subway uniform range.

ICW were appointed last year to clothe all Subway’s UK and European franchise businesses manufacturing and delivering a newly designed sandwich artist uniform range through three major distribution hubs.

Sustainability was a key element of the brief and 100 per cent of the polyester used in the 550,000 garments produced were sourced from recycled materials – including nearly 3.78m plastic bottles.

The roll-out was also recognised at the Subway IPC Supplier Conference where ICW received the Most Innovative Supplier award and the Overall Supplier of the Year 2023 for delivering the new uniform programme on time and in full.

ICW managing director Edward Grigg said: “I can’t remember a time previously in our 25-year history when we have received four awards in one month for our work.

“Two awards from our industry body and two from our customer is a brilliant return and just reward for the whole team at Incorporatewear who work so hard to delight our customers. What was equally pleasing is that the awards recognise the work for both an existing, long-term customer and a brand new one.”

ICW specialises in the design, manufacture, and roll-out of branded corporate uniforms to household names in key industries including Banking and Finance, Travel and Tourism, Hospitality, Transport and Retail.

It is part of the Workwear Uniform Group Ltd (WWUGL) – the UK leader in the sourcing, design, manufacture and distribution of technical workwear, PPE and bespoke corporate uniforms to large, multi-sited organisations.

ICW has worked with Stagecoach since 2003 and secured the contract to deliver a complete uniform revamp after an extensive competitive tendering process.

The brief was to bring Stagecoach’s ‘Proud To Serve” corporate rebrand to life through the creation of a modern, top to toe wardrobe for its 19,000 bus, coach and tram drivers and inspectors.

ICW design teams worked closely with Stagecoach management and colleagues through a series of detailed focus groups and extensive wearer trials to ensure the re-design reflected the new brand and delivered on fashion, fit, comfort and functionality.

Account manager Ian Marvin said: “We worked very closely with Stagecoach who really bought into a process which has created a modern, industry leading and award-winning uniform design which the workforce really love.”

The new Stagecoach layered wardrobe uses high quality, breathable and sustainably sourced fabric and is being delivered through a dedicated, easy to use online ordering portal providing colleagues with freedom to select the uniform mix that is right for them.

Boasting £100m annual turnover and an international reach, WWUGL is currently delivering a significant internally financed, investment programme in physical infrastructure and systems.

This includes a £15m, state-of-the-art, fully automated warehousing and distribution product handling system which will transform the speed and quality of customer service while significantly reducing the carbon emissions associated with every item dispatched.

A best-in-class ERP system and new, online digital portals are also being rolled out to customers and Edward Grigg added: “This is an exciting chapter in our story and will build even further upon the great reputation we have in the industry.

“It means we can provide unrivalled managed contract solutions to customers across the entire workwear lifecycle, from designing and sourcing products to their manufacture, distribution and even end-of-product-life processing.”

Pictured (L to R): Joe Barton, ICW head of Supply Chain Management, chief executive Edward Grigg and Stagecoach account manager Ian Marvin