Manufacturer of luxury women’s clothing, David Nieper, has become the first ever British fashion manufacturer to break into The Sunday Times' prestigious ‘Best 100 Companies to Work For’.
Decades of offshore sourcing has decimated the UK fashion manufacturing industry, which has shrunk by more than 90% percent since the seventies. That tide is beginning to turn and one business is helping lead the charge.
David Nieper, a family run fashion manufacturing firm with 280 staff, enjoys a very low staff turnover and scored highly in the category of looking after staff wellbeing, with more than 50% of the company holding long service awards of 10+ years.
In comparison to other businesses in the list, the company also received a special award for ‘Giving Something Back’, indeed supporting the local community is at the heart of everything the company does and especially in its role for local education.
The David Nieper approach is both altruistic and far reaching, not only creating jobs for local people, but also prioritising the educational standards and welfare of local children.
First company to sponsor state education
Within the past two years, David Nieper has taken the unprecedented step of becoming one of Britain’s first private companies to sponsor state education in the shape of the David Nieper Academy, a secondary school built for 850 pupils age 11-18.
Results from the survey reflected that staff are proud to work for their family company and believe that it is run on sound moral principles and personal growth is encouraged. The survey also revealed that David Nieper staff are excited about their future prospects working for the company.
Managing director, Christopher Nieper, commented: “Our place in the Best 100 Companies list is credit to our wonderful staff. We are one of the few fashion houses that have never taken production overseas and for 50 years have prioritised local people and local jobs.
“This is a very exciting time to work in British fashion and inclusion in the list goes a long way to marking the revival of British fashion manufacturing and demonstrating that British fashion is a great place to work and build a career.”
Over the past 12 months, the David Nieper fashion house has had the most successful year in its 56 year history, which it attributes to its great staff and an increased consumer appetite for British Made goods.
The Sunday Times Best Companies programme started in 2001 and is based solely on the results of staff surveys. A broad cross section of the British workforce has been polled, with over a quarter of a million staff giving their opinions about their work environment and employers.
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