Clothing company gets R&D boost

CLOTHING company EC Contract Division has won a £250,000 grant to develop impact protection clothing.

The Manchester-based company, which already makes clothes for high street fashion retailers, supermarkets and sporting organisations, will use money from the Northwest Regional Development Agency to develop its protective clothing brand.

Traumatec will be specifically designed for workers who are at risk from blunt trauma and ballistic impact damage, such as the police, emergency services, traffic wardens, security companies, protection agencies.

The proposed clothing, which has patents pending, will consist of a flexible, lightweight, breathable muscle supporting material, which will have ‘trauma shields’ inserted to absorb high levels of impact force.

According to the company, the suit would help support muscles during repetitive use and aid the removal of lactic acid, enhance circulation and add increased oxygen flow.

Research and development will be conducted on three main components: the trauma shield, the trauma shield suit and the ballistic shield suit.

Neeraj Takiar, managing partner at EC Contact Division said: “Our vision is simple to be the very best at what we do, to ensure Traumatec is the standard against which all garment protection systems will be measured.”

Mark Hughes, executive director of economic development at the NWDA, said: “The Directors at EC Contact Division have an ambitions outlook and are committed to the project, as demonstrated by the initial feasibility work that has been carried out in conjunction with Police Officers, who have been heavily involved from the offset.”