A County Durham workwear company that started life with little more than a van and a sewing machine has been sold in a deal believed to be worth around £50m.
Listed London group Bunzl Plc - which last year had revenues of £10bn - has snapped up Durham-based Workwear Express in the deal, documents published on Companies House show.
The documents show the distribution and outsourcing company, which has operations across the globe, became the significant controller of Workwear Express at the end of last week.
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Filed papers also show the firm’s founder Andrew Ward has now left as director of the company that he started back in 1989, although it is understood he will remain on board as a consultant for a short time and that he will retain the buildings that provide the firm’s base.
Three new directors, all of whom are based at Bunzl, were appointed last Friday, on the same day that Mr Ward’s directorship was terminated, and the firm’s registered address has also switched from Belmont Industrial Estate to Bunzl’s London head office.
Founder and outgoing chairman Mr Ward was 18 when he first launched the company, following his father into the workwear business after helping to sell work clothes and boots out of the back of his van from the age of 10.
After leaving school to carry on with the business he initially traded as Ward’s Workwear, buying an old Mercedes van to travel around the region, visiting suppliers to buy stock such as Rigger boots, jeans, overalls and padded-checked shirts, then selling them to workmen who had to pay for all of their own work clothes.
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When he officially launched Workwear Express, however, the importance of brand identity was growing, with companies across all sectors wanting their name and logo emblazoned across garments.
He bought a single-headed embroidery machine and, working from his kitchen table, started producing new workwear himself, renting a unit in Coxhoe to store stock while building up a huge base of clients.
The business swiftly grew and, today the company employs more than 280 people, supplying bespoke workwear, promotional clothing and PPE to all sectors around the globe, including healthcare, industrial and hospitality, with clients including Greggs and Tesco.
Latest accounts for the year ended March 2021 show it turned over £28.6m, a rise of 33% on the previous year’s £21.5m, while operating profit almost doubled from £1.4m to £2.6m.
The firm’s growth follows a number of investment projects in recent years, including £4m for an additional 40,000sq ft manufacturing site next to its existing premises in Belmont, plus the launch of its first retail outlet.
Bunzl, listed on the FTSE 100, declined to comment. The company describes on its website how acquisitions play a key role in its growth strategy, “aiding the group’s geographic expansion as well as extending our product offering and customer base”.
Since 2004 it has made more than 170 acquisitions.
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