P22 ARDLAIR:SGBGolf_NEW_template 01/06/2009 10:08 Page 23
Ardblair brand profile Delivering excellence –
Import Services declared
‘Best Logistics Supplier for
Sports Products 2009’
Premium logistics supplier, Import Services is being commended with an industry award in praise of excellent
service in the delivery of sports goods.
straight away that X-Bionic combines
The company, based close to the port of Southampton, specialises in the transportation storage and
the best elements of both. All X-Bionic
distribution of a wide range of consumer products with the focus this year on sports and leisure products.
clothing helps the body regulate
And the Institute of Transport Management (ITM) is now highlighting Import Services as a frontrunner in this
sector.
temperature, so no energy is wasted
in the body trying to keep cool or
“Import Services is one of the most successful logistics companies operating in the UK and Continental
warm.
Europe today,” said Philip Leung of the Institute of Transport Management. “Winning an important contract to
manage Srixon and Cleveland Golf’s logistics across Europe is just one example of how the business has
We just did the London Marathon grown in stature over recent years. I thoroughly commend Import Services to retailers and their suppliers.”
Expo, and the reactions there were
fantastic. We sold two pairs of shorts
for every top we sold as people can
instantly feel the difference with the
shorts.
http://www.ardblairsports.com/
For more information contact Mike Thomas
on 01489 799500 or visit
www.importservices.co.uk.
In our shirt – the Fennec, we named this after the Desert Fox – we have
got a heat pipe system which takes the sweat from the surface back to
the skin, like a revolving system.
I did some studies into the Desert Fox, wondering how this animal can
survive in this harsh environment. It has developed a special fur that
reflects the heatwaves, and it has big ears to cool the blood down. I
started to develop a new yarn to help the body keep at 37 degrees
Centigrade, which is the optimum performance temperature for the
body. If you run in summer, you have the heat from the street, from the
walls and from the sun. The technology is reflecting these heatwaves,
and keeps this heat away and is also distributing the sweat all over the
body, to keep the evaporative cooling system auto-running.
SGB: How did the concept come to you, as you're not a textile engineer?
PL: Shall I be honest? I was sitting at my house in the garden. I had a
bottle of wine, and I was bored after the X-Socks had been so successful
worldwide. I took a shirt, made by a very well-known company, and there
was writing on the packing. 'These strategically-placed vents take the
excessive heat out of the body's core…' What is this? It is full of bullshit.
It is just a different look of the knitting, and they call this a 'strategically-
placed vent which takes the excessive heat out of the body's core'. That is
impossible.
So I went through this. I am a scientist, not a textile engineer. I have
nothing to do with textiles. I started to develop a new measurement; I
took one of my girls, and put her in a suit – I made all these little squares
on the suit. When she moved, the squares were disturbed, so I could see
where the tension goes. I started to develop this. I had to develop a new
yarn that would not take the moisture away quickly, and the three-
dimensional knitting. I started developing the underwear by looking at
what the other people had done.
That is how it started, by seeing which arguments help people sell
products – there is no need to bullshit, really. If you are a scientist, you
start to laugh…
If you are a runner and you realise how that works, it is completely
different. There is no better ultimate truth than your own experience –
that is our motto. People wear it, they realise how it works.
MAY 2009 SGB SPORT 23
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