Henri-Lloyd announces purpose led partnership with Great Britain SailGP Team
by Henri-Lloyd 13 May 2022 10:00 BST
Henri-Lloyd announces purpose led partnership with Great Britain SailGP Team © C. Gregory
Where performance meets responsibility is the driving ethos behind a new partnership between British performance brand Henri-Lloyd and The Great Britain SailGP Team. Henri-Lloyd's Striving for Sustainability strategy has raised the bar for design and manufacturing to deliver its most responsibly produced range since the company's inception 58 years ago.
This commitment to "Responsible Production" covers all new Henri-Lloyd products, twenty-three of which have been selected by the SailGP team combining specialist on water kit with performance gear that focuses on multifunctional design built to perform in any weather and for any activity. This partnership will see Henri-Lloyd provide performance and onshore clothing as the British team competes across ten global events in 2022/23 in every condition and climate possible.
All but one of the products delivered to the team are produced with organic, zero waste or recycled materials, including the use of Gore-Tex® Pro products that incorporate a recycled face fabric, which are kinder to the environment without compromising performance or durability. Virgin crude oil-based plastic packaging has been eliminated in all the of products selected by the team, with either plastic packaging being eliminated altogether, or utilising recycled or biomaterials, which can be composted at home or via local authority schemes. Since agreeing the partnership Henri-Lloyd has looked for every gain possible in terms of reducing environmental impact, with smarter design choices in materials alongside the utilisation of world class manufacturing in Europe to reduce product miles by 88%.
Henri-Lloyd brings over six decades of technical knowledge and innovation, driven forward with a pioneering spirit and relentless pursuit to always strive for a better way. From 1963 when founder Henri Strzelecki challenged convention by using the wonder fabric of the 1960's Bri-Nylon to produce light, durable and flexible waterproof clothing for active sports, to 2022 where the brand launches its most ambitious performance product line that has responsibility at the core.
For Sir Ben Ainslie in his dual role as Chief Technical Officer at Henri-Lloyd, and as skipper and co-owner of British Team, a commitment to produce performance wear that also delivered on responsibility goals was critical for both the team and Henri-Lloyd.
"I've been hugely proud to be a brand ambassador for Henri-Lloyd, they have supported my entire professional sailing career and I have seen first-hand how they strive to deliver the best performance wear on and off the water.
We are incredibly excited to join them as they enter a new chapter of delivering performance with responsibility across their design, manufacturing, and business operations. These commitments align perfectly with our team's ethos and vision to protect our future and play our part in the vital action needed to tackle the climate emergency.
This weekend we will be racing in high-performance kit that has been produced using organic, recycled or zero waste material, which is an outstanding achievement by Henri-Lloyd and an exciting step forward for sailing."
Sir Ben Ainslie, Driver, Great Britain SailGP Team.
As the first global positive sports league, SailGP runs the Impact League, a world-first initiative to make sustainability essential to the fabric of sport and to accelerate the transition to clean energy. SailGP's Impact League has a set of sustainability criteria - social and environmental - to operate against with each team awarded points based on its fulfilment of these criteria. Henri-Lloyd will accelerate SailGP Great Britain's achievements on water and within the merchandise criteria with this partnership. They also join a new partner programme, COLAB, which will bring together companies from different industry sectors to drive positive change and behaviours and support the team's ambition to win the SailGP Season 3 Impact League.
Every product has been designed and engineered to deliver the highest of performance standards. Henri-Lloyd produces 80% of its products in Europe including in its own world class production centre in Mr Henri's hometown in Poland. This commitment to locally sourced production is a key part of Henri-Lloyd's "Striving for Sustainability" strategy. It not only significantly reduces shipping miles, but it also reduces damaging over production whilst allowing products to be crafted in high working standard environments. The British based company has ambitious responsibility goals, setting a benchmark of 100% of the new product line to be made with recycled, organic, or sustainable materials by the end of 2022.
"When we looked for sporting teams to partner with, it was imperative that they shared our own vision for a more sustainable future and having worked with Ben and his team previously we knew that their passion was genuine and a mutually beneficial partnership could be formed. Our challenge is to deliver the high performance kit that the team demands whilst having a minimal environmental impact, we know that what we do today will not be right in the future, this is a truly dynamic field and its where we and are our industry partners are striving to achieve the highest standards we can. Some of the elements exist to create products with minimum impact with today's technology, but there is so much more to be done, and one our biggest challenge is to deliver a truly circular approach with today's limited infrastructure. The challenge of continual improvement in line with emerging technologies is one that we are look forward to tackling."
Graham Allen, Executive Chairman, Henri-Lloyd.
Find out more on the Henri-Lloyd website here...