THE BIG INTERVIEW
trainers where flexibility is key. Thereʼs something ideal for any farming or countryside work situation too. ʻThese boots were made for walking, but thatʼs not all theyʼll doʼ is a line of a popular song which the company has borrowed to describe one particular robust boot called the Super Safety Texan Rigger which evolved from the 1950s and the kind of protection Texas oil workers demanded, but it could equally apply to any of the carefully designed ʻfit for purposeʼ, protective footwear offered by the company. The ʻDickies 22ʼ range aimed at the younger workforce, has also been revamped. Comments Maurice: “It is a fashionable range and you need to be constantly changing and evolving it. This year we launched new T shirts and some new colours.”
ABOVE LEFT: Dickies 22, introduced two years ago, has a fashionable edge aimed at younger customers. ABOVE RIGHT: Fire retardant wear is a growing part of the range.
the end of the financial year, weʼre not going to see any significant decrease in prices.”
F
Although Dickies is a relative newcomer (the UK operation was launched in 1989), the company has a long heritage in workwear and will celebrate its 90th anniversary in 2012. Its origins go back to Bryan, Texas, where C. N. Williamson and E. E. "Colonel" Dickie began their careers in the "vehicle and harness" business. In 1918 they made the momentous decision – with a few friends – to establish the U.S. Overall Company.
our years later the company became the Williamson-Dickie Manufacturing Company. Since then, Dickies has become the worldʼs largest privately owned provider of workwear. Having gained a reputation for making hardwearing garments, during World War Two the company was sequestered by the American Government to produce millions of uniforms for the armed services. In fact Olʼ Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra, wore a Dickiesʼ uniform in “From Here to Eternity”. In the late 1950s the company expanded into the European market.
From its UK base in Midsomer Norton, the brand has continued to evolve its range and markets and is now the leading workwear manufacturer in the UK, supplying coveralls, work shirts and trousers, jackets, bodywarmers, foul weather protection, high visibility garments, and a comprehensive range of safety footwear.
New PPE products
The goal is to become a one-stop shop, Maurice tells me. “At the moment we are developing a range of PPE products – headwear, eyewear and hand protection. Our glove protection is in place – weʼve recently launched this. The aim is that at the A+A exhibition in Düsseldorf in October we will launch the rest of the PPE range. There will probably be three phases of development. This will be phase one.”
Dickies will be researching the market to gauge what, if anything, is missing from the PPE range to develop it further. PPE development is overseen by corporate director, Judy Clay. She says: “I am dictated to by EU legislation. We make sure that all of our PPE product is compliant using notified bodies in the UK; compliance is taken very seriously. “This year, we have recertified all our FR (flame retardant) product under the new standards EN11612 and EN11611 and have changed the previous WD product codes to ʻFRʼ making it simpler for customers to recognise. We see ʻFRʼ as being an area of expansion and specialisation for the business over the next two to three years.”
There has also been “massive progress” in Dickiesʼ footwear range which caters for every possible trade and industry from steel toe capped, rugged boots for construction sites, and flame retardant ones for engineering workshops or wherever sparks are likely to fly, to lightweight yet tough, metal-free, non-slip
www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk
Now available through all of the big distributors, BTC activewear was the first printwear distributor to offer Dickies, which is
now the cornerstone of their “magnificent seven” workwear brands.
Something that sets Dickies apart from other workwear brands
is its American heritage. Added to that is the British tradition of workwear that came when Dickies acquired UK workwear manufacturer, Clares. In part, the acquisition heralded the launch of an embroidery service.
Embroidery
Says Judy Clay: “When Dickies bought Clares, we took ownership of an eight head Barudan – the business saw it as the opportunity to embroider. In those days we had 120 machinists sewing garments and there was a need to embroider cut pieces so that they could go back onto the sewing floor and be made up as garments – and quickly.
R
“From initially meeting the needs of the production floor, it developed into offering the business and customers personalisation on stock sweatshirts, polos and fleeces. More and more customers are wanting their garments embroidered before dispatch primarily because itʼs another job they can tick from their list. We make sure customers know we have the facilities to embroider in-house, providing them with an embellishment service for the Dickies product. “We have 40 embroidery heads here at Midsomer Norton – all Brothers. We buy our machinery from GS UK who provide us with all the additional support we require. I will be looking at more machinery for next year – itʼs a growing area for us. All our digitising is done here, however if we have capacity issues, then we outsource.”
ecalling the acquisition of Clares, Maurice tells me: “The business was started in 1900 by Mr Clare and his family. He was a dairy engineer. He decided that the portfolio should include workwear for the dairy parlours and the business developed from there.
“When Clares came up for sale in 1989, Williamson-Dickie USA acquired the business and relocated it from Exeter into this office (at Midsomer Norton). The company then became Clares Dickies and in 1995 we dropped ʻClaresʼ. At that point annual turnover was around £14m – but then, by refocusing the brand purely as ʻDickiesʼ, turnover increased by about £3.5 million that year due to the name having become so strong worldwide”. Quality is paramount and all Dickiesʼ workwear must live up to the company slogan of being ʻfit for purposeʼ. Dickies always roadtests its products in real working environments. Dickies today has changed beyond recognition and, as managing director Mark Strange says: “We see the next few years as exciting times for the Dickies brand as it continues to grow in popularity and strength.” Look out world!
■ For more information call 01761 410041; email
uksales@dickies.com or visit
www.dickiesworkwear.com
August 2011 | 39 |
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