Anniversary Report 10 years and still flying high
This autumn sees ØRN Clothing celebrate its 10th anniversary. In the space of a decade the workwear manufacturer has grown from working out of the back of a van to one that turns over £18m. P&P editor Melanie Attlesey spoke to one of the founders, Ivor Tunley, about the company’s flight to success and plans for the future.
Cameron were well placed to start their own manufacturing business in the sector way back in 2008. The pairʼs first stumbling block came when deciding what to call their fledgling business. “We looked at the market and knew that we wanted to be perceived as a brand that could compete against the strong Scandinavian brands,” explains Ivor.
W
It was at a family barbeque when the topic reared its head and the
brotherʼs father turned to
them and asked what interested them. Ivorʼs response: birds of prey. A Danish dictionary was then purchased and upon flicking through Ivor stumbled across the Danish word for eagle: ørn. The
slash
through the ʻOʼ used in the companyʼs logo, gives the brand a definite Scandinavian edge, while the meaning of the word gave ØRN Clothing a basis on which to name all of its products after: birds of prey. “Itʼs short, itʼs punchy and not a name youʼll forget in a hurry,”says Ivor.
ith decades of experience in the PPE and workwear industry, Ivor and his brother
Cameron and Ivor Tunley
As well as aligning the company with other Scandinavian brands by design and appeal, Ivor knew he was keen to target the middle ground in the UK marketplace. To buy good quality workwear products from premium Scandinavian brands you had to pay the price.
These products were often in European sizing, making it difficult to know what you were ordering and these companies were often perceived
as being slower on delivery from a UK customerʼs point of view. At the time of ØRNʼs launch, Ivor says that not one brand had a good spread of product, each specialised in one particular area. “Our first range of products had to compete against the market leaders. We also had to have UK sizing and UK stockholding, this was very important to us. We launched with half a dozen products and made the decision very early on that XS to 5XL would become our standard sizing and that we would have a one price policy for waist and leg lengths, making us very easy to deal with” Ivor says.
Design and appeal The colours navy, bottle green and black were chosen as core colours for the collection, as these are very well suited for the UK workwear market.
Over the years, the product range has grown and ØRN Clothing’s show room | 30 | November 2018
evolved, as would be expected. The original polo shirt now comes in 17 colours, with another four polo shirts joining the collection throughout the
www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk
2008
ØRN Clothing is founded by Ivor and Cameron Tunley. The company starts trading from a 3,000sq ft warehouse and goes live with its very first website.
2009
ØRN employs its very first employee. Steve Wood joins as a warehouse operative and is still with the company today.
2011
ØRN rebrands with the logo you will recognise today.
2010
ØRN moves into a 12,000sq ft warehouse in Banbury and opens its first showroom.
2012
Staff levels reach 10 and ØRN introduces online ordering.
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