Covec Limited and Bull-It Jeans receive Queen’s Award for export success

Michelle Liew

April 22, 2020

The two brands have worked together to achieve massive success in this extremely competitive segment.

Photo credits: Covec Limited

Covec Limited, the parent company of motorcycle clothing brand, Bull-It Jeans, has just received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise. The textiles company hails from Southhampton and has been operating since 2011. This is a real honour in recognition of the firm’s export success in this highly competitive segment of the protective clothing market.

British brands are struggling with the effects of Brexit and the current global health pandemic involving COVID-19. Despite that, brands are remaining optimistic for a better future. Covec Limited as enjoyed strong sales in 14 different countries. Its main markets include North America, Australia and New Zealand.

Covec Limited developed the groundbreaking textile by re-engineering an otherwise inflexible liquid crystal polymer to achieve abrasion resistance. It also comes with moisture regain qualities and low thermal conductivity. This is all whilst enhancing the strength of the material.

These properties make Covec the ideal textile for use in sportswear, military clothing and personal protective gear. Bull-it has launched products, such as motorcycle-specific jeans, that prove the performance of the material in a high-octane environment.

Over a six-year period, overseas sales of Covec have increased by 587% with exports making up 53% of total sales. The Queen’s Award for International Trade for Outstanding Continuous Growth in Overseas Sales has now recognised this remarkable achievement.

Photo credits: Bull-It.com

As such, Covec Limited to become a world leader in high-performance textiles. This includes licensing to and producing for a variety of reputed global brands. This consists of Triumph Motorcycles, Rokker of Switzerland, KLIM USA, RevZilla, IXS and The Bike Shed Motorcycle Club.

“Export or a global distribution platform was the plan from day one. Although as a British company we made our first container sale to Australia, quickly followed by New Zealand back in 2012. This Queen’s award means a huge amount to the whole team. They have worked tirelessly over the years to overcome a variety of issues. This includes a weak GBP, Brexit turmoil and a change CE safety regulations, to deliver continuous growth.”

“R&D has always been at the fore. Covec, through its PPE brand Bull-it, was the first motorcycle denim jean in the world to achieve CE Level II back in 2013. This by itself a great team effort. This put us in a unique position with our exclusive materials giving our fantastic distributor and dealer network more safety and sales tools to do the job.” says Company founder, Keith Bloxsome.