News and Updates

Arco has been 'Highly Commended' in the prestigious IHEEM Healthcare Supplier of the Year Award, in recognition of its work supplying respiratory protection, face fitting services and training to NHS Scotland during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In August 2020, while health services were struggling to source personal protective equipment (PPE), Arco was awarded a contract to supply essential PPE and face fitting services to NHS Scotland. Since then, Arco has supplied: 230 million surgical masks, 7 million visors, 3,000 days of face fitting and training and 3 million FFP3 respirator masks. This support was successfully implemented through 50 managed local distribution hubs, providing PPE to over 2,700 sites.

Andy Owen, Head of Healthcare at Arco, said:

"We are proud to be 'Highly Commended' in the Healthcare Supplier of the Year Award category at this year's IHEEM Awards. This is a great achievement that recognises our support to the NHS in keeping healthcare workers, patients and visitors in Scotland safe and protected during very challenging times.

"Arco has a history of supporting the healthcare sector in times of emergency, including providing a strong response to the Ebola outbreak in 2014-2016, where we supplied hundreds of thousands of hazard suits and visors to frontline workers deployed to West Africa.

"When the COVID-19 pandemic began, we were able to use our experience and knowledge to support the healthcare sector with the critical protection they needed."

Discussing Arco's work with NHS Scotland, Clare Casciani, Health and Safety Advisor at NHS Lothian, said:

"Arco worked with hospital teams across Scotland to coordinate a face-fit testing programme, ensuring respiratory protective equipment (RPE) wearers were kept safe with correctly fitting FFP3 respiratory masks.

"Frontline staff were supported with over 3,000 days of Fit2Fit approved on-site testing, across day and night shifts. Arco also organised training for over 250 NHS Scotland staff members so that they could run their own face fit testing. They provided bespoke fit testing training days and continued coaching and mentoring staff so they themselves could be trained to Fit2Fit standards. So far, nine NHS staff have since gone on to pass their Fit2Fit examination. Without Arco's support, we would not have been able to achieve this at all."

As the UK's leading safety products and services company, Arco supports the healthcare sector with a wide range of products and services.

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Arco has partnered with Hull and East Yorkshire Children's University (HEY CU), a local children's charity that aims to raise the aspirations of young people by building their confidence with unique learning experiences.

As part of the partnership, Arco will provide new branded uniforms for the charity's 15 volunteer leaders as well as funding for an 'experience' session for a class of children in 2022/2023, which will include a visit to a farm, something which most of the children will have never experienced. They will learn about where their food comes from, as they look at different crops and they will also get to meet some of the resident animals.

In the past, HEY CU has designed a range of exciting and engaging learning experiences intended to stimulate ambition, physical health, historical knowledge, creativity and an understanding of careers for their future.

HEY CU aims to improve the mental wellbeing of children through engaging activities and sessions run by experienced leaders and volunteers. This is particularly important post Covid-19 pandemic, as an online survey, which took place between October 2020 and February 2021, found that 41 per cent of 10-to-11-year-olds and 52 per cent of 16-year-olds felt their mental and emotional health had worsened during the pandemic.

Arco and HEY CU have a history of working together on various projects and initiatives, including hosting educational visits by students from local schools to the company’s National Distribution Centre (NDC), and are now, following the pandemic, looking at new ways for Arco colleagues to volunteer and mentor local children and support Arco's goal of helping young people to achieve.

David Evison, Managing Director at Arco, said:

"Helping young people to achieve their full potential is one of Arco's core objectives when it comes to supporting the communities we operate in.

“Having worked with HEY CU for a number of years, we are delighted to be supporting them further through the funding of an experience session for a class of children in 2022/2023 and by providing new branded uniforms for their team of experienced volunteer leaders.

"We are also looking at how our colleagues can help HEY CU through volunteering and mentoring opportunities. The Covid-19 pandemic reduced the number of opportunities for our colleagues to volunteer, but with restrictions now eased, we are supporting more of our colleagues to help some great local causes just like the Hull and East Yorkshire Children's University.

Natasha Barley, CEO of Hull & East Yorkshire Children's University, said:

"HEY CU has a long standing relationship with Arco, who have provided us with great support over the years, including experiences at the National Distribution Centre for primary school children who learn about careers at Arco, Arco staff volunteering and fundraising for the charity, donations from the Arco Community Panel to support our work, donations of uniforms for our mini City of Culture reporters in 2017 and more recently for our team at HEY CU.

"It's wonderful to have this relationship recognised formally in a partnership and we look forward to working even more closely with the team at Arco to inspire local children to fulfil their potential."

Arco has been announced as one of the top 10 family businesses in the UK for employing apprentices and promoting apprenticeships for professional development.

The fifth-generation family business received the prestigious status as part of a list compiled by Family Business United, the global voice of the family business community, which ranked Arco as number 10 in the country as part of its report for 2022 looking at the number of apprentices in the family business sector.

The list consists of a range of companies, including JCT600, JCB, Portakabin Ltd and Hodgkinson Builders.

Those who made it to the top 10 list represent the best in terms of the number of apprentices, the creation of new apprenticeships and the number of apprentices completing and graduating from their apprenticeship programmes.

Arco currently has 10 apprentices at the business, working in a variety of areas, including finance, digital, customer services and safety, health and environment, as well as eight new apprentices that started this year.

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

"As a fifth-generation family business, we are incredibly proud to feature in the Family Business United list of family business apprentice employers.

"Over the past five years, we have built up our Future Experts programme and have seen 34 apprenticeships completed and 29 that are ongoing. Plans are also in place for a further 30.

"Helping to nurture future talent and further develop the knowledge and skills of our colleagues plays an important role in the future aspirations of the business and will support our ambitions for growth in the future.

"We're seeing a greater uptake from a broader range of business areas now, so I'm very excited to see both our internal and external apprentice numbers grow over these coming months and years."

Paul Andrews, Founder and CEO of Family Business United, said:

"Family businesses are innovative and entrepreneurial, and it is great to see so many providing apprenticeships within their organisations.

"This inaugural report has clearly demonstrated the commitment of family firms like Arco who continue to invest in the next generation of their staff and provide apprenticeship opportunities in various areas of the business.

"Arco is a great family business with a long history which, in part, is down to the continued innovation and evolution of their business. It is great to give recognition to a business that continues to create new opportunities and innovative ways to engage with the next generation of employees, providing them with great career opportunities."

More than 300 children, young people and their families in the Glasgow and South Lanarkshire area have been supported as part of a partnership between Arco, the UK's leading safety company, and children and family charity, Action for Children.

Following Arco's success in securing a contract to supply products and services to NHS Scotland, the fifth-generation family business linked up with Action for Children to fund two new roles supporting young people and disabled children.

Action for Children supports children and young people across the UK, providing practical and emotional care and support, ensuring their voices are heard, and campaigning to bring lasting improvements to their lives.

The partnership with Arco has funded the recruitment of a Community Support Worker and a Trainer/Qualifications Assessor within the organisation.

The additional Community Support Worker is based at the recently refurbished Silverton Community Hub, a centre specially designed to support children and young people with complex learning difficulties and a range of physical health needs. Staff at the community hub provide personalised support, helping children to overcome barriers that may hinder their involvement in the local community. Staff facilitate access to local community-based facilities, resources, networks and amenities, including swimming pools, gyms, youth groups, green spaces and museums. This empowers the children to pursue their own personal interests and preferences while growing their confidence, social skills and reducing isolation by supporting children to form new friendships. They provide regular support to parents, siblings and other family members too.

The Trainer/Qualifications Assessor is supporting Action for Children's Youth Employability Project, a scheme that aims to help young people breakdown barriers to employment. Such barriers are addressed through valuable employability skills and vocational training, developing their aspirations, ambition and future job goals by encouraging their interest in learning. For some of the young people, the support they have been offered has helped them get the first qualification they've ever had.

Andy Owen, Head of Healthcare at Arco, said:

"Arco is passionate about supporting the communities we call home and helping children and young people achieve.

"We are really proud of what our partnership with Action for Children has accomplished to date.

"The new members of staff are delivering tangible benefits and life-changing opportunities for children, young people and families in the Glasgow and South Lanarkshire area by helping to improve wellbeing, quality of life and personal outcomes for disabled children and by developing employability skills and vocational training for young people so they can progress into chosen careers."

Grant McFarlane, Senior Relationships Manager at Action for Children, said:

"Arco has provided direct financial support where Action for Children needed it most. There's a wonderful lasting legacy for children, young people and families thanks to Arco's funding."

In addition to the funding allocated by Arco, colleagues from its healthcare team recently spent time helping to transform the garden at one of Action for Children's short break centres so that vulnerable children and young people can play in a nurturing environment where they feel safe and are given the opportunity to thrive.

A video has been created to highlight the work of Arco's partnership with Action for Children and to demonstrate how, as a business, Arco can help customers achieve their social value goals.

Arco has launched its first ever dedicated graduate placement programme as part of its ongoing commitment to developing the next generation of talent in the safety industry.

From hundreds of initial applications, Charlotte Andrews, Tom Newman, Olivia Richardson and Harry Shepherd have joined the fifth-generation family business as part of the 18-month paid programme, based at Arco's new office and collaborative workspace at Blackfriargate, in Hull.

Developed in-house by Arco's Learning and Development Team, the programme will see the graduates develop their skills and knowledge within diverse areas of the business, including in finance, the commercial team, marketing and HR, and acquire further relevant qualifications in their areas of specialism.

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

"This is the first time we have run a dedicated graduate recruitment programme, which further demonstrates our business' commitment to developing talent.

"It's fantastic that we were able to attract so many high-calibre applications and we're delighted to have successfully recruited four exceptional candidates in Charlotte, Tom, Olivia and Harry to Arco.

"They will bring fresh ideas and ways of working to our business while we offer them an invaluable early career development opportunity in return."

One of those taking part in the programme is Olivia Richardson, a Media and Screen Studies graduate from the University of Hull, who will be joining Arco's marketing team as a Marketing Graduate.

Olivia said:

"Having lived in Hull all my life, I was always aware of Arco and knew that they had a strong reputation of being a good company to work for and that they really contribute to the local community, so I knew that it would be a company that would fit with my own values.

"The graduate assessment day I took part in for the programme was a real challenge and pushed me out of my comfort zone, but I really enjoyed it and was excited to be chosen as one of the four graduates.

"After completing my course at university, I had established my own online business and this project had introduced me to digital marketing and the principles on how to create and grow a brand. I knew at that time that this was something that I wanted to explore further as a career.

"During my placement I will be dividing my time between three different teams, something I am really looking forward to as it will mean developing a variety of new skills and learning from different experiences. I think this will be a very valuable opportunity to have at the start of my career, as I can explore different roles and decide which area I would like to specialise in.

"Upon completing the graduate programme, it would be great if I could eventually go on to help others do the same thing as they start out in their careers."

Arco has a strong history in attracting and nurturing talent, including through its Future Experts programme, which has supported nearly 60 apprentices since its launch in 2016.

It is hoped that the Graduate Placement Programme will become a regular avenue for recruitment for Arco in the future and that the placements will provide a platform for career development at the business.