The takeover is aimed at elevating Arco’s clothing offering to its customers and signifies the company’s continued expansion into the clothing market. James Twigg, general manager of the new Arco operation, said: “Within the last four years, Arco has witnessed a massive growth in demand for casual work wear, safety clothing and corporate clothing. In order to meet this demand, we have significantly increased our clothing offering in The Big Red Book and offer a wide range of branded and ownbrand items to suit the requirements of most industries.”

Since 2003, Arco says it has seen a surge in clothing sales of almost 200% and is currently supplying UK businesses with an average of 52,000 garments per week (over 2 million per year). By the end of 2007, it anticipates that 1.2 million of these garments will have been embroidered, 646,000 heat-seal decorated and 29,000 tax tabbed or over-locked. “This indicates the importance and prevalence of garment customisation for clothing buyers,” said Twigg.

The purchase of the Fulwood facility would allow Arco to offer garment decoration options including embroidery, heat sealing and screenprinting, along with specialist services such as tax tabs, over-locking and wearer packing, added Twigg.

Arco is a leading UK supplier of personal protective equipment, workwear and workplace safety products. Founded in 1884, the Hullbased family business now has over 100,000 customers and an annual turnover in excess of £200m.

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