Following our win at the 2013 Medway Business Awards we were approached by BBC South East Television to make a short documentary on our social and ethical work in Bangladesh
Discount stores are taking over the high street
Discount stores
We read with great interest in a recent BBC article that discount stores are expanding much faster than their bigger rivals. Called the “The unstoppable rise of the discounters” the BBC article highlights the clever growth of the discount sector, which has grown 48% over the past five years and could be said that discount stores are taking over the high street.
Being a leading buyer of discontinued and over stock textiles lines from around the world, this came as no surprise to the team at Clearance Textiles. We are pleased to say that for over 10 years we have kept the high street discount stores filled with our growing range of discount textiles.
Our sales team has seen a steady increase in sales over the past few years, proving that the discount store is definitely here to stay. Everyone loves a bargain and we are pleased that the consumer is now aware that shopping for everyday necessaries such as tea towels, oven gloves, dish cloths and hand towels doesn’t have to break the weekly household budget.
Affordable Recycled Towels
Another Clearance Textile product that is creating excitement within the discount sector is our recycled towel. This environmentally friendly towel is made from the waste that occurs in the manufacturing process of towel production. We combine all the yarns together and with the help of our clever weaving process are able to turn the yarns into beautifully bespoke towels. The end result is a recycled towel that looks good, is affordable and doesn’t have to cost the earth!
Clearance Textiles
We have over 15 years experience in supplying sectors as diverse as; large multiple store groups, small independent stores, online portals, market traders and discount stores. Keep up-to-date with all our special offers on the news page (link) or call us now on 01634 719984 – we look forward to hearing from you and finding out how we can meet your wholesale needs.
Apprenticeship Schemes at Elsatex
Apprenticeship Scheme at Elsatex
As a company that advocates apprenticeship schemes in their business, Elsatex is delighted to announce that apprentice Abbie Thornton has completed her first year!
Being an award winning company we are committed to working with young talent and take great pleasure in helping our apprentices develop their skills and knowledge within a business environment. We have also seen that their work really does have an impact in the everyday life of the company.
Abbie joined Clearance Textiles nine months ago as a trainee Marketing Manager. She had previously spent two years at MidKent College completing her Extended Business Diploma and finished with an impressive two A’s and one A*. Abbie says she is having a great time with us and thinks the most rewarding part of her apprenticeship is the responsibilities we have given her.
Being part of a team
All of our apprentices are part of the team and we encourage them to use their own initiative and to share their knowledge, experiences and passions with us. Abbie is a keen designer and was delighted to be given the task to create a logo and packaging design for a new Clearance Textile product range.
The job has now been completed and the new product, which includes Abbie’s logo and packaging design, is now available to buy in shops. This is a prime example of how empowering young talent and letting them complete tasks independently can be rewarding to both the employee as well as the employer.
She describes her colleagues as generous and willing to do anything to help. This just goes to show that a good working environment will help to nurture apprentices. Clearance Textiles certainly deliver and also enjoy keeping on-going relationships with previous apprentices.
In her spare time Abbie enjoys meeting up with her friends and going for long walks with her beloved dog, Tilly. We look forward to seeing Abbie continue to shine and develop her skills within the company.
If you are looking for an apprenticeship and would like to work for Clearance Textiles, which is part of the Elsatex Group, please do let us know.
Elsatex spring boards apprentice to fame!
Working with apprentices
It’s been just over a year since our apprentice Terri-Jane Harris left the Elsatex Group (including Clearance Textiles and Victoria London Textiles) to travel the world. Now back from a carefully planned four months round-the-world trip, we caught up with Terri-Jane to find out more about her successful and growing business ‘Terri Towelling’ which supplies hairdressing towels to salons across the UK.
After finishing her studies at MidKent College in Gillingham in 2013, she joined the Elsatex Group as a marketing apprentice. Fresh from college, Terri-Jane brought with her a variety of ideas and new skills, all welcomed by the growing Elsatex team. These included implementing new marketing strategies such as flyers, email campaigns, website development, brand identity. On joining the team Terri-Jane said “While some of my peers stayed on in education, or went to university, I felt training in the work environment would benefit my personality more than further academic learning”.
During her first year at Elsatex Terri-Jane continued to hone her marketing skills and in 2014 entered the prestigious Kent Excellence in Business Awards (KEiBA’S). She entered the Apprentice of the Year category, and was delighted to be selected as one of three finalists to go through to the gala awards evening. Unfortunately she didn’t win the Apprenticeship of the Year award, but her infectious enthusiasm and commitment gained her great recognition within the county.
Hairdressing Towels
With the travelling bug behind her for the time being, Terri-Jane has now taken back the lead at Terri Towelling, a company she set up while working at Elsatex. The company is now growing from strength to strength and is currently selling over 3000 hairdressing towels a month! The majority of sales are from her Ebay on-line store and the future sets to be bright for Terri-Jane. With her confidence growing she is looking to add new ranges to her collection, and also working on ways to expand this niche but successful business.
As a leading supplier of hairdressing towels, the Elsatex Group are still very much part of Terri-Jane’s road to success. We supply Terri Towelling with all its towelling requirements and will continue to develop new products for the hairdressing market. We currently stock a number of colours that are appearing in salons across the UK, including; Hot Pink, Navy, Grey, Beige as well as the bleach proof range of towels.
We love working with Terri-Jane and hope this young entrepreneur continues to gain recognition within her field and look forward to partnering her in projects for many years to come.