Workwear firm sees turnover jump
Oldbury's Direct Corporate Clothing is celebrating after turnover jumped by a fifth in its last financial year.
The company uniforms and workwear business at the Direct 2 Industrial Park in Roway Lane reported revenue of £26.5 million for the year to the end of October, up from £21.7m in 2014-2015.
DCC, whose customers include Jet2.com and Travis Perkins, increased its workforce from 100 to 120 over the year as well.
Nick Atkinson, corporate and communications director at DCC, said: "We are delighted that our focus on customer service and high quality garments has paid dividends with an excellent set of financial figures."
Mr Atkinson said that the depreciation of sterling against the US dollar has impacted margins in the market.
"Strong relationships between suppliers and customers enable compromises to be reached. Winning and holding business is not built on price alone but on delivering a service and quality product that matches what has been agreed."
Among the new arrivals last year was Helen Woodall, who joined DCC as head of purchasing and now heads a purchasing team of 12 people.
She arrived with wide-ranging experience as a buyer and product manager, including roles at Brammer Group and Buck & Hickman.
DCC also recruited Julian Kingswood as national account manager from Parker Merchanting, where he enjoyed a 16-year career in sales, graduating to the position of head of sales for local business.
In August DCC bought The Business Wear Company to create one of the UK's largest providers of workwear, corporate wear and personal protective equipment.
The combined turnover of the companies was expected to have reached around £36m by the end of 2016.
DCC supplies uniforms to many of the country's biggest businesses and maintains its stock levels at the 72,000 sq ft Oldbury warehouse, in order to deliver fast turnaround of orders and exceptional customer service.
Former DCC director Nick Atkinson bought Leeds-based The Business Wear Company out of administration in in 2011 and has returned to the DCC board following the acquisition to direct the company's corporate wear strategy.
DCC won the best bespoke personal protective equipment uniform category in last year's Professional Clothing Awards in recognition of its workwear for BT Group.
