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Worn Again announces collaboration with Hemingway Design and new partnership with McDonald’s

 

Worn Again is today announcing a new long-term partnership with leading British designers, Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway, their Hemingway Design team to design the new uniforms for McDonald’s 85,000 employees in the UK.

The collaboration is part of a long-term strategy and ambition to help McDonald’s achieve sustainable uniforms for its staff.

Worn Again will be working closely with the uniform provider Dimensions / Alexandra using their joint expertise to help create new uniforms for McDonald’s with the aim of making it 100% closed loop recyclable, where uniforms are recollected in restaurants, reprocessed into raw materials and made back into uniforms again as part of a ‘closed loop’ system.  The entire process will take place in phases over the coming years.  McDonald’s is the first company in the UK to commit to developing a closed loop uniform.

CEO of Worn Again, Cyndi Rhoades, said:

“McDonald’s is a progressive company and we’re excited to be helping it with its ambition to develop a uniform range that over time will eventually become 100% closed loop recyclable. It’s important for small innovation companies like us to work with big brands and uniform partner Dimensions/ Alexandra to create economies of scale and bring about real change across a variety of sectors.”

Wayne Hemingway, who with his wife Gerardine co-founded the acclaimed Red or Dead label, commented:

“The collaboration with McDonald’s fits with what we stand for – great design that goes hand in hand with long-term sustainability. This is a bold commitment from McDonald’s, and one that we are delighted to be part of. But as well as being a move towards sustainability, these clothes need to feel fabulous to wear. The next few months are going to be busy, as we work on creating a young and fresh look for McDonald’s employees, to be unveiled in time for the London 2012 Olympic Games.”

The new designs will be unveiled next year before the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games, and McDonald’s top performing employees will be the first to wear Wayne and Gerardine’s designs at the McDonald’s Olympic Park restaurants.  Employees across the UK are competing for a chance to work at the Olympic Park restaurants – only staff who demonstrate the very best in customer service will be given the opportunity.

Jez Langhorn, Vice President, People, McDonald’s UK, said:

“Our people welcome 3 million customers a day into our restaurants and they are at the heart of our business. We invest in them to provide nationally recognised qualifications and flexible working – just as important to them is the uniform they wear.

“We’re delighted to be working with a British design team led by Wayne Hemingway in the creation of a UK first – the closed loop recyclable uniform. Our staff share Worn Again’s commitment to sustainability and I hope that together we can create a uniform design model for the future which others can follow.”

After the London 2012 Olympic Games, the new uniform designs will be rolled out to McDonald’s 1,200 restaurants and 85,000 employees across the UK. The closed loop textiles will be slowly phased into the new uniforms over the course of the next few years, while the infrastructure to support the new system is being developed.

-ENDS-

  

Media enquiries:

·       Worn Again and Hemingway Design, Sarah Ditty: 020 7739 0189 / sarah@wornagain.co.uk

·       Nicola Marshall  / Nicola Biles, Blue Rubicon: 020 7260 2700 / mcdonalds@bluerubicon.com

Notes to Editors

About Worn Again

Worn Again works with big brands to upcycle their existing textiles waste into new products while developing and integrating closed loop textiles solutions for the future.

Worn Again has been turning waste to wealth since 2005, starting out in consumer products, making footwear, bags and accessories from disused textiles from large companies, including Virgin Atlantic, Eurostar, Royal Mail and Virgin Balloon Flights.

In 2010, Worn Again partnered with uniform supplier Dimensions to co-develop a strategy towards zero waste in corporatewear. 

The Worn Again Train Manager’s bag, made from decommissioned Eurostar staff uniforms, will be on trains and used by Eurostar’s Train Manager’s from 7th^t July, 2011.

www.wornagain.co.uk

 

About Hemingway Design

Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway are the highly successful founders of Red or Dead, which won the British Fashion Council’s “Street Style Designer of the Year” award three times in a row in the late 1990’s.

In 1999, having sold Red or Dead they set up HemingwayDesign, which specializes in affordable and social design.

Wayne is the Chairman of Building for Life, a CABE (Commission for Architecture and The Built Environment) funded organization that promotes excellence in the quality of design of new housing. He is a Professor in The Built Environment Department of Northumbria University, a Doctor of Design at Wolverhampton, a writer for architectural and housing publications as well as a judge of international design competitions including the regeneration of Byker in Newcastle and Salford in Greater Manchester and the Stirling Prize, and a TV design commentator.

Gerardine was awarded a MBE for services to design in the June 2006 Queens Birthday Honours list and has a Doctorate from Plymouth University, Lancaster University and Stafford.

info@hemingwaydesign.co.uk  

 

About McDonald’s

McDonald’s has a proven track record of investing in the development of employees and offering flexibility as part of its commitment to being a modern and progressive burger company.  In fact:

·       McDonald’s was recognised by The Great Place to Work Institute as one of the top 50 Best Workplaces in the UK in both 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 and was one of only five organisations with more than 10,000 employees to be included

·       McDonald’s was recognised by The Great Place to Work Institute as one of the Top 50 Best European Workplaces in 2010

·       In 2005 McDonald’s became the first large employer to achieve the new Investor in People Profile status and in 2009 achieved GOLD status

·       McDonald’s is one of The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers for the eleventh consecutive year

·       McDonald’s was listed in ‘Britain’s Top Employers 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 rankings

·       McDonald’s has been listed as one of the Times ‘Top 50 Companies Where Women Want to Work’ for four consecutive years, since 2006

·       McDonald’s was named ‘Best Place to Work in Hospitality’ in both 2007, 2008 and 2009

·       McDonald’s invests £36 million in training each year

·       In January 2009, McDonald’s launched its programme to offer an Apprenticeship in Multi-Skilled Hospitality, and McDonald’s is one of the UK’s largest apprenticeship providers.

·       In January 2008, McDonald's was given awarding body status, meaning it is able to develop and award its own qualifications. The first qualification that McDonald’s offered is a Level 3 Diploma in Shift Management, which more than 3,500 Shift Managers have completed to date

·       Over 16,000 employees are currently studying towards nationally-recognised qualifications while working with McDonald’s

·       McDonald’s dedicated employee website, ourlounge.co.uk, provides employees with the opportunity to brush up on the basics by undertaking online learning programmes that lead to nationally-recognised qualifications in Maths and English

·       In 2006 an independent study by Adrian Furnham, Professor for Psychology, University College London, showed that employment at McDonald’s has a positive transformative effect on young people compared to other jobs, boosting their confidence, communication skills and career prospects

·       In 2004 research by the Work Foundation found that 60% of a typical franchised restaurant’s annual £1.5 million turnover – around £900,000 - stays local and generates a further £2.2 million of local spending

·       90 per cent of restaurant management and one in five franchisees started as crew

·       The average tenure for a McDonald’s restaurant manager is over 15 years