News and Updates

Arco, the UK's leading safety products and services company, has been awarded the prestigious Investor in Sales Award from the Institute of Sales Professionals (ISP), recognising the commitment the company has made to ensuring its sales staff provide a professional and ethical service to its customers.

With a deep commitment to keeping people safe at work and as the first company in its sector to achieve this award, Arco continues to lead the way in ensuring that everyone goes home safely at the end of the working day.

The award and Arco's investment in training and development of its sales colleagues, ensures that the business trades ethically in what and how it sells its products and services. Arco sales teams also gain safety credentials through the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, meaning they can support customers with expert knowledge and advice, making Arco the responsible choice of safety partner.

To achieve the team award, individual salespeople were required to pass a demanding exam in order to be registered on the ISP's professional register. This is not just a 'one off' investment, as those on the register are required to pass a new exam after two years in order to retain their accreditation. Arco has also signed up to become a corporate member of the ISP.

Bryan Lawrie, Commercial Director at Arco, said:

"Receiving this award is a fantastic achievement for Arco and is fitting recognition of the business' efforts in developing a highly skilled sales team that is committed to providing the best possible experience for our customers, lives up to our ethos of being experts in safety and makes us the responsible choice of safety partner."

Patrick Joiner, Managing Director of the Institute of Sales Professionals, said:

"Congratulations to the hardworking and dedicated salespeople at Arco for achieving their first Investor in Sales award. Their commitment to professional development and ethical business behaviour sends a strong message to their customers that they are credible, trustworthy business partners. The Institute of Sales Professionals is delighted to be working with Arco to help them foster talented, dependable salespeople and we wish them every success."

Darren Ford, Head of Organisation Development and Learning and Development at Arco, said:

"As a business, Arco is fully committed to being ethical in what we sell and how we sell. That is why we are proud to be a corporate member of the Institute of Sales Professionals and by ensuring our sales colleagues undertake regular accreditation and learning as part of their continued professional development."

Arco, the UK's leading health and safety company, has announced an exciting partnership with FLX Health, to become the exclusive UK reseller of the FLX app, a targeted physiotherapy app that works to prevent musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in the workplace and rehabilitate employees more quickly when they arise.

Musculoskeletal Disorders are a Leading Cause of Lost Working Days

MSDs are a leading cause of occupational ill health in Great Britain, accounting for 30% of all work-related ill health cases and 27% of lost working days. Affecting 14.9 million people nationally, MSDs cost the NHS over £5 billion per-year for treatment and support. As a growing issue that exists in many work environments, the FLX app empowers individuals to self-manage low grade pain and injuries through behavioural change and correcting biomechanical function, reducing the need for face-to-face and online physiotherapy appointments. The FLX app will also help employers boost productivity, reduce sick days and keep their workforce healthy, happy and active.

Already Reducing the Cost of Musculoskeletal Disorders

The FLX app works in two ways, accelerating the process of recovery, and preventing injury by detecting and correcting biomechanical issues. For example, during a three-month trial conducted with the South Yorkshire Police Force, MSDs were reduced by 64% and the rate of absenteeism due to MSDs was reduced from 43 to 18 days per month. This trial amongst 237 police workers, resulted in savings of £65,000 a year. When scaled across all staff within the Force, the calculated savings could reach £1.4m a year. In a similar trial with 480 workers at Dorset Fire and Rescue Service, days lost due to low level back pain reduced by 52%.

A New Way to Protect your People

The FLX app is available via subscription on mobile devices. Users can opt to use the Pain Programme to aid existing problems through corrective exercises and self-management advice or the Biomechanics Programme to help prevent future pain and injuries. The app uses clinically proven algorithms developed over 15 years to identify an individual's biomechanical profile through a series of screening tests to suggest a course of personalised physiotherapy exercises. The app learns and adjusts the programme to address users' continuously evolving biomechanical needs.

Click here for more information about the FLX app.

Arco, the UK's leading safety company, is pleased to see that the High Court has ruled that the "VIP fast-track lane" for awarding PPE contracts to those with political connections was unlawful.

Throughout the early stages of the pandemic, there were examples of PPE supply contracts being awarded opaquely to organisations with no history or experience of PPE manufacture and supply, who were ultimately unable to fulfil orders as they had imported inappropriate or non-compliant products, increasing the risk to the public, care home staff and NHS workers.

Arco recognises the fact that, when the pandemic broke out, the Government was dealing with an unprecedented situation and an urgent need to scale up procurement in an extremely fast-moving environment, in which a finite supply of PPE had to be matched with an almost-infinite global demand with millions of lives at stake. In such a situation it was inevitable that mistakes would be made.

We at Arco have always felt that it was important to learn from what went wrong and to take steps to rectify these.

Last year, Arco launched a campaign to raise awareness of these issues and produced a position paper Personal Protective Equipment and the Government's Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic.

This paper shared Arco's experiences and proposed a 10-point set of recommendations to prevent a repeat of the high-profile issues that were seen during the first wave of the crisis and to ensure the country is better protected in any future pandemic.

Arco's Chairman, Thomas Martin, gave evidence to the Public Accounts Committee on Arco's experience at the start of the pandemic and its findings.

Arco acknowledges the positive and constructive way in which the Department for Health and Social Care has engaged with the content of the position paper, and asks Ministers to consider its remaining recommendations, particularly the call for a register of accredited Category II and III suppliers. This will ensure we can all be better prepared for any future emergencies.

With the festive season upon us, it feels like an appropriate time to reflect on what has been another challenging and unpredictable year, both for Arco and our customers.

For many businesses, the Covid-19 pandemic has continued to be the most prominent issue to contend with.

As experts in safety, Arco has taken a proactive approach in supporting the country's response to the pandemic - from supplying PPE to frontline workers and critical industries to providing expert advice on the UK's future preparedness for emergencies through the publication of a position paper and by giving evidence to the Public Accounts Committee.

Away from Covid-19, several notable milestones have been achieved at Arco over the past 12 months from the opening of our new safety centre in Linlithgow, Scotland, to the completion of our new office and collaborative workspace at Blackfriargate in Hull. We have also launched our new website and e-commerce platform as part of our digital programme.

Arco has also been verified carbon neutral for its direct and indirect emissions from energy use in its UK operations, marking a key moment in our journey and commitment to becoming net zero by 2045.

As a family-business, we have also continued to support communities across the country through sponsorships, grants, charitable donations and colleague engagement as part of our CSR programme.

It seems fitting that on the note of community and charity, I offer you, our customers, my greetings for the season.

From me and all colleagues at Arco, I would like to wish you, your families and friends, a Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.

David Evison, Managing Director

Colleagues from Arco's Hose Division have created a space for wellbeing and wildlife on an area of disused land next to the family business' National Distribution Centre (NDC) at Priory Park, in Hessle.

Following the demolition of Arco's previous office in Waverley Street, in Hull, as part of the upgrade of the A63, the safety expert's hose division was relocated to a new £2 million purpose-built facility next door to the NDC.

Once there, colleagues soon realised the potential of a plot of unused land nearby and set about creating a garden space over the summer.

The project includes:

• A small woodland walk that has bluebells and snowdrops in the spring
• A beehive with its own colony of honeybees, which were introduced in late summer and are thriving ahead of the winter
• A natural pond that is already attracting a wide range of small animals, including frogs
• Seating areas to relax and watch the local wildlife, creating a stronger bond with nature and enhancing the team's wellbeing

Alex Richards, Head of Hose & Export at Arco, said:

"The garden is a perfect reflection of our team, as we have repurposed old hose fittings into planters and have recycled old wooden pallets into benches.

"It's been an amazing team effort to create, with many colleagues helping in their personal time to develop the area into what has quickly become a great little wildlife haven and a natural space for people to enjoy a moment to relax during a busy day.

"We are so proud of this wonderful and mindful space and are all really looking forward to seeing how it will further develop over time."

As well as the wellbeing benefits the garden brings for colleagues, the project is also good for the environment by bringing a previously unused piece of land into use through the planting of flowers, the creation of habitats for animals and the introduction of bees to increase pollination in the area.

Danny Hobson, Head of Ethics and Sustainability at Arco, said:

"This project has created a beautiful oasis within a busy industrial complex.

"Biodiversity is so important to our world and our hose division has created an environment for wildlife to flourish.

"As a responsible business, Arco is committed to our climate and to making a meaningful difference by continuing to explore and action all the ways we can make a positive impact, from cutting emissions to investing in fleet and waste management and ensuring best practice in circularity through sustainable product development, packaging solutions and product recycling capabilities.

"It also means that Arco fully supports great initiatives like the garden that has been created by our colleagues at our hose division.

"The garden looks fantastic, and I'd like to thank all those who have put the time and effort into re-wilding this area. I know it will be enjoyed by both people and animals for many years to come."