Advanced engineering materials company Versarien has announced a collaboration with sportswear brand Umbro.
Founded in an engineer's garage in Cheltenham, Versarien creates commercially viable products from graphene, a material made from a single layer of carbon atoms, for the automotive, clothing, biomedical and aerospace sectors.
The business said its technology will be used by Umbro in its Elite Pro-Training Kit range, initially for the 2023 spring/summer collection.
Versarien has been working on several projects with the kit suppliers of Premier League football side West Ham and the England rugby team since 2018, with this the first to lead to products being launched.
The agreement follows previously announced deals with US footwear manufacturer Flux Footwear and fellow Gloucestershire firm Superdry, for whom Versarien is producing garments designed to have lower environmental impact on creation.
Versarien will manufacture a graphene-infused ink formula for the inside of Umbro’s training gear, which it said will allow for “enhanced thermal transmittance, increased moisture management, with improved drying rate, without compromising air or water vapor permeability".
The business said it had invested in extensive wearer trials in partnership with the University of Gloucester to develop the technology, which chief executive Neill Ricketts said had been developed by the company's in-house technology teams at University of Manchester - where Umbro is also based.
Mr Ricketts said: “We are very excited to work with a brand with Umbro's deep-running experience in performance products and we look forward to the products going on sale to consumers."
Colin Lomas, head of global product for Umbro, added: "In the nearly 100 years since Umbro was founded, we have created many world-firsts, such as the introduction of Sportswool and X-Static on football kits in the early 2000s or more recently the use of ProWeave on football boots.
“This is another major step forward for us and we are pleased that after a long experimentation phase with Versarien, we can now introduce this innovation."
Versarien has a dedicated graphene facility in Longhope in the Forest of Dean. The company is set to announce its unaudited interim results for the 12 months ending March 31, 2022, on Thursday (May 12).
Following the retirement of the group’s non-executive chairman James Stewart, Diane Savory - formerly chief operating officer at Superdry and chair of Gloucestershire’s ‘GFirst’ LEP - assumed the role at the start of this year to help oversee its next stage of development.
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