Protest partnering with Neilson Holidays

Industry Updates

Protest to provide lifestyle and tech clothing to Neilson

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 21 September, 2012 : - - Boardwear brand Protest has secured an exclusive deal to supply uniform clothing to water and snow specialists Neilson Holidays across both its hospitality and active divisions. The two-year deal – previously held by Helly Hansen - will see Protest supply both lifestyle and technical clothing to the company.  Neilson is part of the Thomas Cook group and operates in 12 countries with ski and board, as well as beachclubs and yachting in Greece and Turkey.

The collaboration marks another important milestone in the development of the design-led surf and snow brand.  Now in its fourth year in the UK, Protest has continued to establish itself as a key brand in the lifestyle market with consistently positive results – pre-sales for SS13 are again up on the previous year. Country manager, Paul Wilkinson, said: “We are continuously improving and investing in Protest in the UK and taking market share amongst such unprecedented industry conditions is no mean feat.

“Our collaboration with Neilson Holidays is a great example of the progress and momentum we are achieving. Despite the global challenges, we are still continuing to see a positive increase year on year and we’ve done this through a highly customer-focused sales approach, with UK specific product positioned at UK commercial price points.”

The uniform will be worn by all hospitality staff including heads of department, receptionists, waiting and bar staff.  The active staff will also include dinghy and windsurf instructors, wakeboard/waterski instructors, fitness coaches, mountain bike guides, children's club staff and yacht staff.

Protest fought off stiff competition from other brands for the deal - Carrie Emmerson, hospitality assistant manager at Neilson Holidays said it had been successful on the basis Protest is able to meet every need: “One of the key things we needed was for the chosen brand to be able to meet the specific needs of the business in terms of both lifestyle and specialist, technical clothing,” she explains. 

“Many of the items we will be taking are off the peg but there was a need for specially made, bespoke items to be supplied and they’ve been able to do that brilliantly.
 “Obviously the other major elements are price and quality – previous suppliers have been able to give us the price we were looking for but the quality suffered as a result.  Protest has supplied a collection that has durability and longevity, but at the right price.

“Finally the service-led approach Protest as a company offers is excellent – we have been extremely impressed with their designs, efficiency and their communication.”
The collaboration will lead to widespread brand exposure for both companies and contra-marketing deals with joint promotions; social media, discounts and competitions will maximize the opportunities.

The growing number of key retailers for Protest now exceeds 210, including Cotswold Outdoor, Ellis Brigham, Snow & Rock, Debenhams, Littlewoods,Two Seasons and Surfdome.  

Mr Wilkinson adds: “When the market is stagnant it’s imperative to explore new areas of distribution.  Added to that, this relationship will create countless marketing opportunities, which we are very excited about.  We’re delighted to be working with Neilson and look forward to developing the partnership.

www.protest.eu

Source: Say Something

Author: Angela Walton

Tags: Protest, Neilson Holidays, Business Updates

Industry: Surfersvillage