Treadstone Products are a Safety Glove manufacturer, with production partners across the Asia Pacific region supplying over 750 styles of gloves across the UK / EU.
Interview with Tony O’Donovan, European Sales Manager – Safety Division at Treadstone Safety.
What are the main areas of activity of the company?
Tony O’Donovan: We manufacture, wholesale, distribute and prescribe safety gloves to a wide range of industries, including Oil and Gas, Manufacturing, Assembly, Aviation, Waste Management, HVAC, Metal Working, Engineering and much more.
What’s the news about new products/services?
T.O’D: We offer a wide variety of safety glove styles ( 750+ ) and also create and develop new innovative products with our client base, through joint working projects.. If you want a glove, but it doesn’t exist, we can look at developing it, testing and certifying it for use in the EU / UK. We also have ramped up our Private Label services, supporting companies who don’t want the hassle of dealing directly with factories, which can often be traumatic.
What are the ranges of products/services?
T.O’D: Our range of services, include on site surveys, hand protection training / education, problem solving and private label design / supply. Plus, we manufacture and sell a lot of safety gloves, from the cheapest economy ranges to the highest specification cut resistant gloves, including many specialty gloves, for food, for ARC, for electrical, for chemical etc. We’re basically a one stop shop for all your safety glove needs, whether you’re a distributor of PPE or a small end user, we can help.
What is the state of the market where you are currently active?
T.O’D: The market is saturated with many safety glove manufacturers, mostly from overseas. There’s a lot of choice, but not much support to help end users chose the right gloves for the work. Many end users are making the same selection and use mistakes as they were 25 years ago, so the manufacturers and distributors of Safety Gloves still have a lot of work to do in my opinion. There’s too much emphasis on selling product and not enough care and thought about the workers hands.
What can you tell us about market trends?
T.O’D: Prices have gone up a lot in recent years but have stabilized more recently, mainly due to the increased levels of competition. There’s a small blip at the moment due to increased container costs, which can add anything from 5p to 20p a pair to glove styles being imported. New glove innovation for the most part is focused on recycled content and “carbon neutrality”, plus the recent development of even lighter, thinner cut resistance yarns, such as 21g products are now starting to appear in the marketplace.
What are the most innovative products/services marketed?
T.O’D: There’s not a lot that can really be described as innovative at the moment. Most new product developments are in the carbon neutrality zone, with companies pushing their green credentials along with recycled content and bio-degradable gloves. The best safety innovation in the last few years, is the “Stop n Go” glove concept, which aids traffic management / movement around dangerous work sites. With over 200 deaths by vehicle around the workplace each year, this new glove concept is starting to make significant impact on UK sites… Gloves saving lives…. It doesn’t get much more rewarding than that does it?
What estimations do you have for 2024?
T.O’D: I suspect, we are though the worst period post Covid and with the changes in the mindset of purchasing gloves. Things have settled down again and the market is looking for deals, for cost savings and for new safety glove innovations. People want better value for money and are starting to shop around again, so it’s great news for companies like ourselves, often working in the shadows of the big players. We’re making a dent in our competitors market share but will continue to push “education and improvements in safety” as our main focus, as ultimately it’s our “safety without compromise”, the statement we live by.