Press release -
Railway staff uniform wins ‘Best Design of the Year’ award
New uniform for London Northwestern Railway and West Midlands Railway employees has won ‘Best Design of the Year’ at the 2019 Professional Clothing Awards.
Staff at the train operators were issued with their new uniform earlier this year, following months of consultation to put together the final design. The uniform includes everything from trousers and skirts, shirts, ties, shell jackets and coats for staff working at stations, on trains and at maintenance depots across the rail network.
Following the introduction of the London Northwestern Railway and West Midlands Railway brands in December 2017, the train operators wanted to bring in a uniform that reflected the change, but was also practical and comfortable for those in customer facing positions to wear everyday.
The final design for the uniform was heavily influenced by staff and finalised in conjunction with designer Debbie Johnson. Debbie is an experienced and established designer, who has worked with a number of famous names.
Adrian Thompson, HR director for London Northwestern Railway and West Midlands Railway, said: “It’s fantastic to see the design of our uniform being recognised against some of the huge brands across the world and different industries. Designing and implementing a uniform is no mean feat, so it was critical that the design had our people involved from the start and hard work in helping us with this was really paid off. Our staff can now be easily recognised by passengers out on the rail network in their award winning uniforms!”
Following the rollout of the new uniforms, over ten tonnes of old uniform was donated to The Salvation Army Trading Company. This is being used to provide affordable workwear for those in need, or is being recycled into sound proofing, mattress filling and other uses.
The awards were held in London on Wednesday 19 June and were hosted by Strictly Come Dancing Anton Du Beke.
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For further information on this release, call our press office on 03300 955150 or email press.office@wmtrains.co.uk
About the Professional Clothing Awards
The Professional Clothing Awards have been established to recognise the international uniform supply chain and reward exceptional workwear, corporate clothing and PPE from around the world.
The awards cover all facets of the working garment industry from PPE Innovation of the Year Awards, kindly sponsored by Magnum, Supplier, Manufacturer and Distributor Awards, Industry Recognition Awards, Business Manager Awards and new to 2018 Professional Clothing Awards, ‘VISION’ sponsored by CORDURA, which shines a light on student designers from across the globe looking to make their mark on the professional clothing industry. For more information of the awards visit www.professionalclothingawards.com/index.html
About West Midlands Trains
West Midlands Trains operates both West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway services.
- London Northwestern Railway services operate between Liverpool and Birmingham, and on the West Coast mainline to and from London Euston.
- West Midlands Railway services operate to destinations across the West Midlands via Birmingham New Street.
For more information on these services visit westmidlandsrailway.co.uk or londonnorthwesternrailway.co.uk
The West Midlands Trains franchise started on 10 December 2017 and will run until 2025/26.
West Midlands Trains operates 1,300 services a day, manages 150 stations and provides over 70 million passenger journeys a year. Over the course of the franchise, West Midlands Trains will be investing £1 billion into the rail network to deliver new trains, improved routes and station upgrades. This will include 400 new train carriages across the network and space for an extra 85,000 passengers into Birmingham and London at peak times.
The franchise is a joint venture between Abellio (70.1% share) and East Japan Railway Company / Mitsui & Co., Ltd (29.9% share in a 50:50 split). Abellio is the international passenger transport subsidiary of the Dutch national railway company, Nederlandse Spoorwegen. In the UK, Abelllio operates ScotRail and Greater Anglia train services, Merseyrail services in a joint venture with Serco and buses through Abellio London. For more information visit www.abellio.com
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