Written by University of the West of Scotland KTP Centre Team
ACS Clothing are one of the UK’s leading circular and sustainable fashion fulfilment facilities. For 25 years, ACS has specialised in rental fulfilment and clothing renewal, they aspire to transform the fashion industry from the traditional linear take-make-dispose model toward a circular fashion model that extends the life of existing textiles and diverts clothing from landfills. ACS enables brands and retailers to introduce a rental or resale model alongside the existing e-commerce model.
This collaborative project has delivered a best-in-class sustainable solution that prolongs the life of garments, reduces their impact on the environment and has transformed negative consumer perceptions on garment hygiene into a market recognised core strength. The biggest barrier to the adoption of circular fashion business models is consumers perception of used and rental clothing hygiene. By resolving this challenge with the Ozone Sanitising Technology, the project could unlock the potential of $700bn revenue globally to sustainable fashion organisations. Other benefits of the project include:
- Unlocking the potential of a 10-fold increase in revenue by 2025
- Minimising carbon emissions by up to 200 tonnes of CO2 annually
- Attracted significant new research funding; over £2m forecasted in 2023 alone
- Reducing the need for intensive unnecessary cleaning
- Reducing the consumption of energy, consumables and water
- Published 8 Academic papers
- Lodged IPR
In addition to this project ACS have also had a Management KTP with UWS to embed emerging leadership and management theory, implement organisational and culture change and equip ACS with knowledge, skills, systems and processes to exploit the rapidly expanding global market for fashion rental and transition ACS from a SME to large business over the next 5 years. As well as an Accelerated KTP to boost sustainability and introduce long-lasting and regenerative circular models.
“This ever-evolving partnership, between Advanced Clothing Solutions and the University of the West of Scotland, truly believes that everything is possible.” – Dr Anthony Burns, Chief Operating Officer of ACS Clothing
Since starting their KTP journey ACS have been finalists in several awards including The KTP Awards in Liverpool and The Industry Awards in London. Earlier this year they won the Marketing Award at the CeeD Awards 2023 and the Innovation Award alongside UWS for our partnership together. In March the KTP Associate Dr Emmanuel Epelle won the Innovator of the Future Award at the Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards 2023.
Interested in Knowledge Transfer Partnership?
To find out more please visit: https://www.ktp-uk.org/business/
If you know which institution you would like to partner with, then you should approach them directly. If not, the UWS KTP Centre team would be delighted to help identify suitable partners for your business or answer any questions you may have: ktp@uws.ac.uk
