Active Workwear
Active Workwear is a UK-based independent online and showroom retailer of branded workwear, safety footwear, and PPE, serving individual tradespeople and corporate uniform buyers across the UK and Europe with embroidery and printing services.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2000
- HeadquartersLeeds, United Kingdom
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Active Workwear does
Active Workwear, trading as Active Leeds Limited (Company Number 5197205), is a UK-based independent distributor and online retailer of branded workwear, safety footwear, and personal protective equipment (PPE), headquartered at 56 Bradford Rd, Pudsey, Leeds. The business aggregates products from major international workwear manufacturers — including Snickers Workwear, Portwest, Apache, Helly Hansen, Blaklader, DeWalt, and Buckler Boots — across approximately 2,731 SKUs spanning work trousers, jackets, hi-vis garments, flame retardant clothing, safety boots and shoes, gloves, hearing and respiratory protection, and full body PPE. It supplements resale with in-house embroidery and printing services for corporate-branded uniforms, serving regulated industrial verticals including construction, rail, welding, and electrical work.
The company operates a hybrid direct-to-consumer model: a Shopify-based e-commerce storefront (active-workwear.co.uk) supported by a physical showroom in Leeds and shipping to both UK and European customers, with European-sourced brands typically delivering within 5–10 days. Revenue is generated on a unit-pricing, pay-as-you-go basis across budget (£12-15), mid-range (£20-60), and premium (£60-265+) tiers, augmented by the branding services stream. Commercial mechanics include free UK delivery and a 10% discount on orders above £150, VAT exemptions on certain safety footwear, and Klarna 'Pay in 3' alongside conventional card and wallet payment options (PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Shop Pay, iDEAL, Bancontact).
Active Workwear is a privately held, founder/owner-operated micro-enterprise (1-10 employees; Michael Johnson listed as Founder & Owner) with no disclosed venture or institutional funding, no parent company, and no subsidiaries. It has operated continuously since at least 2000 and is actively trading. The business model is asset-light distribution rather than manufacturing or proprietary technology, and the company explicitly positions itself as 'Not affiliated with similarly named companies.' Customer concentration is diffuse across individual tradespeople and unnamed SMB/corporate uniform buyers, with no enterprise anchor contracts disclosed.
Active Workwear firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Active Workwear
- Legal name
- Active Leeds Limited
- Website
- https://active-workwear.co.uk
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2000
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Active Workwear is a UK-based independent online and showroom retailer of branded workwear, safety footwear, and PPE, serving individual tradespeople and corporate uniform buyers across the UK and Europe with embroidery and printing services.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Active Workwear industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Industrial Workwear & Safety Equipment Retail
- NAICS
- Clothing and Clothing Accessories Retailers (45811), Shoe Retailers (4582), Clothing and Clothing Accessories Merchant Wholesalers (424350)
- SIC
- Retail-Apparel & Accessory Stores (5600), Retail-Shoe Stores (5661), Wholesale-Apparel, Piece Goods & Notions (5130)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Workwear, Uniforms & Safety Apparel Retail (CRAAABAG)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Work, Safety & Occupational Footwear Retail (CRAAADAD)
Keywords
Where Active Workwear is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Leeds
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Active Workwear business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Product Sales - B2C and B2B: Active Workwear generates revenue through direct sales of workwear, safety footwear, and PPE products to individual tradespeople and businesses. They sell a wide range of branded products including work trousers, jackets, safety boots, gloves, hi-vis clothing, and personal protective equipment. They also offer corporate branding services including printing and embroidery, adding value through customisation.
- Branding Services: The company offers printing and embroidery services to add company names and logos onto work garments. This includes Snickers Workwear, Blaklader Work jackets, fleece jackets, High Visibility vests and polo shirts, creating an additional revenue stream from customisation services.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Budget workwear items |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Mid-range branded workwear |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Premium branded workwear |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels4 records
Active Workwear product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Active Workwear distributes and retails branded workwear clothing, safety footwear, and personal protective equipment (PPE) from major manufacturers including Snickers Workwear, Portwest, Apache, Helly Hansen, Blaklader, DeWalt and Buckler Boots. The company sells through an e-commerce storefront and a physical showroom in Leeds, serving individual tradespeople as well as businesses needing bulk uniform programmes. It also offers in-house embroidery and printing services to brand work garments with company logos and names.
Product overview
Active Workwear is a UK-based distributor and retailer of workwear and safety equipment operating as a multi-brand e-commerce platform. The product portfolio centers on three core categories: (1) Workwear Clothing encompassing trousers, shorts, shirts, jackets, fleeces, hoodies, boiler suits, and accessories from brands including Snickers Workwear, Portwest, Apache, Helly Hansen, Blaklader, DeWalt, Result Workguard, and Projob; (2) Safety Footwear including safety boots, shoes, and trainers from Buckler Boots, Amblers, Apache, and various brands meeting S1-S7 and EN ISO 20345 standards; and (3) Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) covering ear protection (3M, Peltor), eye protection, hand protection/gloves, respiratory supplies, flame retardant garments, hi-vis workwear, and working at heights equipment. Additionally, the company offers embroidery and printing services for corporate branding on work garments.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Workwear Clothing Core workwear category sold to tradespeople and businesses, including work trousers, shorts, shirts, polos, T-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, jackets, fleeces, boiler suits, coveralls, toolbelts, toolvests, waterproofs, and thermal base layers from brands such as Snickers, Portwest, Apache, Helly Hansen, Blaklader, DeWalt, Result Workguard and Projob.
- Safety Footwear Complete range of safety boots, safety shoes, safety trainers, non-steel composite footwear, rigger boots and socks from brands including Buckler Boots, Amblers, Apache and others, meeting EN ISO 20345 standards with S1, S2, S3, SBP and SRC protection levels.
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Full range of PPE across 11 categories including disposable clothing, ear protection, eye protection, hand protection (gloves), head protection, respiratory supplies (dust masks, respirators, filters), knee pads, flame retardant garments, and working-at-heights safety harnesses and lanyards, from brands such as 3M, Peltor and others.
- Hi-Vis Workwear High visibility workwear collection including hi-vis jackets, vests, coveralls, shorts, trousers, bodywarmers, gilets and waterproof hi-vis garments, for railway, highways, construction and general site use.
- Flame Retardant Workwear Specialised flame retardant workwear including flame retardant coveralls, bib and brace overalls, welding jackets, FR trousers, and hi-vis flame retardant garments certified to EN ISO 11612, EN ISO 11611, IEC 61482-2 and RIS 3279 (railway industry).
- Embroidery and Printing Service Branding service that prints or embroiders company names and logos onto work garments such as Snickers Workwear, Blaklader work jackets, fleece jackets, high visibility vests and polo shirts, sold primarily to businesses running workforce uniform programmes.
Companies that use Active Workwear
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Active Workwear technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration15 records
Active Workwear partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered primary, core, featured and minor.
- Snickers WorkwearprimaryActive Workwear is an authorised distributor of Snickers Workwear products including work trousers, hoodies, knee pads, and work shirts. Snickers is one of their featured and primary brands.
- PortwestprimaryPortwest is one of the featured brands at Active Workwear with 956+ products available. They stock the full Portwest range including workwear, safety footwear, hi-vis, and PPE.
- Apache WorkwearcoreApache is a key brand partner with 53+ products including work trousers, safety boots, and accessories. Active Workwear is a primary stockist of Apache products.
- Helly HansenfeaturedFeatured brand at Active Workwear offering durable workwear designed for demanding working environments including fleeces, work trousers, and accessories.
- BlakladercoreActive Workwear stocks Blaklader workwear products including work trousers and jackets, sourced from Europe with typical 5-10 day delivery.
- DeWaltcoreDeWalt workwear and tools are stocked by Active Workwear including work shorts and workwear accessories.
- Buckler BootsfeaturedBuckler Boots is a featured brand and customer favourite collection at Active Workwear, specialising in safety wellington boots and dealer boots.
- KlarnaminorActive Workwear offers Klarna Pay Later payment option at checkout, allowing customers to pay in 3 interest-free instalments.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Active Workwear competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Toolstation: UK trade supplier with growing workwear, PPE and safety footwear category sold alongside tools and site supplies. Overlaps Active Workwear's trade customer base and pressures specialist resellers on price.
- Screwfix: UK's largest trade retailer with significant workwear, safety footwear and PPE ranges sold through 800+ branches and online. Competes on price, availability and convenience versus Active Workwear's specialist positioning.
- Amazon Business: UK B2B marketplace with broad workwear, safety footwear and PPE assortment and Prime fulfilment. Competes on price, range and convenience with Active Workwear's branded workwear and PPE SKUs.
- RS Components: Global industrial distributor with a UK PPE and workplace safety category. Overlaps Active Workwear on PPE depth (3M, ear protection, gloves, respirators) for industrial and MRO buyers.
- Cromwell Tools: UK industrial and PPE supplier with broad catalogue including workwear, hand protection and site safety. Wider industrial focus but overlapping product categories and B2B customer base with Active Workwear.
Direct peers
- Arco: UK's largest workwear, PPE and workplace safety specialist retailer. Directly comparable as a multi-channel (online + catalogue + field sales) distributor of branded workwear, safety footwear and PPE to industrial buyers.
- Workwear Express: UK e-commerce-first workwear and PPE retailer offering branded workwear, custom embroidery/printing and same-day despatch. Closely mirrors Active Workwear's B2C/B2B branded workwear + branding services model.
- Banner Industrial: UK industrial supplier offering workwear, PPE, hand tools and site consumables to trade and industrial buyers. Comparable mid-market specialist with overlapping branded workwear portfolio and B2B contract capability.
- Dennison Workwear: Ireland/UK-based branded workwear and PPE retailer. Closely comparable specialist multi-brand e-commerce play with custom branding services targeting construction and industrial customers.
- Morplan: UK supplier of workwear, uniforms and branded clothing to retail, hospitality and corporate customers. Comparable in offering uniform programmes with embroidery/printing services to B2B clients.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Active Workwear social profiles
Digital presenceActive Workwear compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance11 records
Active Workwear financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Active Workwear leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Active Workwear funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Active Workwear M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Active Workwear
What does Active Workwear do?
Active Workwear distributes and retails branded workwear clothing, safety footwear, and personal protective equipment (PPE) from major manufacturers including Snickers Workwear, Portwest, Apache, Helly Hansen, Blaklader, DeWalt and Buckler Boots. The company sells through an e-commerce storefront and a physical showroom in Leeds, serving individual tradespeople as well as businesses needing bulk uniform programmes. It also offers in-house embroidery and printing services to brand work garments with company logos and names.
Is Active Workwear a public or private company?
Active Workwear is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Active Workwear founded?
Active Workwear was founded in 2000. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Active Workwear based?
Active Workwear is headquartered in Leeds, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Active Workwear make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Product Sales - B2C and B2B is the primary driver. The others are branding Services.
Who are Active Workwear's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Toolstation, Screwfix, Amazon Business, RS Components and Cromwell Tools. Direct peers are Arco, Workwear Express, Banner Industrial, Dennison Workwear and Morplan.
Does Active Workwear have an API?
No public API is recorded for Active Workwear.
What industry is Active Workwear in?
Active Workwear's product category is Industrial Workwear & Safety Equipment Retail. Its primary akta.pro industry code is CRAAABAG, Workwear, Uniforms & Safety Apparel Retail, with a secondary code of CRAAADAD, Work, Safety & Occupational Footwear Retail. Its NAICS code is 45811 and its SIC code is 5600.