EUROPE/UK
Leading European workwear fabric manufacturer, Carrington Textiles, was awarded the ‘Services to the Pandemic’ award by the Professional Clothing Industry Association Worldwide (PCIAW) for its support to the healthcare sector in the UK and Europe. The company increased capacity at ITS main processing facility in the UK, enabling it to supply more than 10 million metres of specialised fabric for medical workwear during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
The global textile manufacturer also received the highly commended award under the ‘Best fabric & Fibre Innovation’ category for the development of iys antiviral finished fabrics for workwear in 2020.
The company received the accolade at the PCIAW Awards and Summit in London, an annual event that celebrates the innovation and achievements of individuals and businesses from the industry. The two-day affair started with an insightful summit gathering companies from around the globe to discuss the challenges and solutions for sustainability in textiles, followed by an elegant black-tie evening ceremony to recognise the efforts of people from around the workwear and uniform sectors who make the difference.
Carrington Textiles received the ‘Services to the Pandemic’ award due to its around-the-clock work with some of the biggest garment providers to the NHS and the healthcare sector in France, Germany, Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, managing to supply the equivalent in specialised fabric of over 5 million sets of uniforms, including scrub suits or tunics and trousers. Additionally, as manufacturers from the fashion industry re-purposed their production for scrub suits, and self-created ‘scrub hubs’ proliferated around the nation, Carrington Textiles supported with much-needed supplies of fabric.
The global textile manufacturer also received the highly commended award under the ‘Best Fabric and Fibre Innovation’ category for the development of their Antiviral Finish for workwear fabrics, a product that the company has been offering long before the start of the global pandemic in 2020, however, as key workers from around the world were demanding extra protection, the company’s objectives were to run tests on the product to make sure this solution was effective. In August 2020 Carrington Textiles was able to go to market with its Antiviral Finished Fabrics for workwear tested under the ISO 18184: 2019 standard.
Carrington Textiles’ managing director, Neil Davey, said: “We are delighted to be recognised by the PCIAW for our work during the pandemic, but every supplier up and down the supply chain was just as important as Carrington Textiles in delivering garments to the NHS and wider European healthcare sectors, so this is very much a shared award by the entire workwear sector”.
