Spot Greater Anglia staff out and about in new uniform

Published on: Tuesday, 20 November 2018
Last updated: Tuesday, 20 November 2018

Look out for staff at Greater Anglia stations and on board trains trialling the company’s smart new uniform for the next six weeks.

Greater Anglia is transforming the railway in East Anglia, replacing every single existing train with brand new state-of-the-art trains. The new uniform will complement the new trains, which will start to come into service from next year.

Staff were consulted about what they want from the new uniform. Now designers Cooneen, who are also manufacturing and supplying the uniform, and HemingwayDesign, by Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway, have produced a prototype uniform for staff to trial.

The range includes shirts, blouses, ties, jackets, skirts, dresses, trousers, knitwear, coats, accessories and a maternity range.

This week, 20 members of staff selected to trial the new uniform were hand delivered a range of new uniform items, appropriate to their roles, to trial over the next six weeks.

Colleagues will provide weekly feedback on their new uniform to the Cooneen & Hemingway design team, regarding assembly, fit and comfort, functionality, their ability to carry out general duties in the uniform and how they rate its appearance after washing.

After the six week trial, the uniform samples will be returned. Cooneen & Hemingway Design will evaluate the feedback and make further tweaks to their designs, before issuing the new uniform in Summer/Autumn 2019.

Over 2,500 Greater Anglia staff including conductors, drivers, depot workers, catering, train presentation, revenue protection inspectors and station customer service teams wear uniform.

Eva Ndoni, Greater Anglia’s Uniform Coordinator, said: “We’re really happy with the new uniform. It looks really smart and first impressions among colleagues have been overwhelmingly positive.

“We asked the designers to come up with a uniform which was practical, comfortable, and long-lasting that colleagues can be proud to wear.

“It was very important that we involved the people who have to wear the uniform in its design right from the start. We’d love to hear feedback from customers as well, about what they think of the new uniform.”

Emma McVeigh, Head of Contracts for Cooneen at Work, said: “The Cooneen and HemingwayDesign team have really enjoyed working with the Greater Anglia project team and colleagues to create a new uniform that is smart, fashionable, instils pride and showcases the Greater Anglia brand.

“Engaging directly with Greater Anglia colleagues has been crucial to bringing the range to life. Together we have successfully created a collection that is fit for purpose, stylish, has great attention to detail, and is comfortable. We look forward to seeing it successfully rolled out to all colleagues in 2019.”

Greater Anglia's brand new trains which will all have air conditioning, USB and plug points, more seats and fast free wifi, are due to start coming into service from the middle of next year.