All of Willmott Dixon’s tradespeople wear the same industry standard combat trousers throughout the year but found that slight flaws in the design were making their jobs increasingly difficult to carry out.
This included a lack of flexibility in the fabric, material that was too hot to wear during summer, hammer loop on the wrong side for right handers and a mobile phone pocket that could no longer fit today’s models.
The contractor’s repairs and maintenance division, Willmott Dixon Partnerships, teamed up with workwear supplier Blackrock to develop a new style of trousers for tradesmen after its employees identified opportunities for improvement.
Members of Willmott Dixon’s Quality Circle collected feedback and worked with Blackrock and the company’s manufacturer to produce a new design incorporating suggestions from the workforce.
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This resulted in a new design of trousers constructed from a lighter durable fabric, with an elasticated waistband, different pockets, hammer loop on the right and compartment for larger mobile phones and BlackBerrys.
The new style of trousers had the added benefit of being cheaper. They will now be released on general sale across the UK.
Colin Thomason of Blackrock said: “When we took a phone call asking us if we did right handed trousers we thought it was a joke. A trip to the Willmott Dixon forum made it clear that it wasn’t, and the reason for the question was that the majority of tool pockets were on the wrong side for access with your right hand. During our time with the Wilmott Dixon team we learnt a lot more about what their workforce require, and the resulting product is a win on both performance and price”.
Willmott Dixon head of health and safety Steve Leighton added: “All of our tradespeople wear the same uniform and on the whole are happy to do so. However, we were receiving feedback from members of the workforce that they were experiencing some problems with the standard issue trousers. Initially it was just the rivets coming off the front, but then there turned out to be other issues which were stopping them from doing their jobs comfortably.”
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