Meet the team – Caroline Noonan, our Product Manager

From her early days as a student of fashion, through to her experience of working in the chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear industry (CBRN), where she supported the design of the current British military uniform, Caroline Noonan’s knowledge and wide experience, gained over 23 years in the textile environment, is an asset to Johnsons Workwear.

After studying, Caroline went straight on to work with social enterprise Remploy. Here, she gained experience as a CAD operator, digitising patterns, producing lay plans to gain optimum fabric utilisation and enabling fabric costings. She then went on to become a garment technician with responsibility for producing samples, working with designers to improve ease of manufacture and to keep within costings, and providing support for changes to existing products being manufactured in the UK and overseas.

“I seemed to be automatically given responsibility for the Ministry of Defence contracts and began to be heavily involved on the technical side. Every garment had to be rigorously tested before it went to sale and I became the tech sales support,” explains Caroline.

Caroline then moved on to become a designer producing sample designs and patterns, sourcing fabrics and trims, training garment technicians, managing projects and visiting trade exhibitions internationally to keep abreast of the changing industry.

In her last few years with Remploy, as Head of Research and Development, Caroline combined her in-depth knowledge of the business and her highly developed skills to lead new projects, develop customer relationships at home and overseas, produce ‘technical specifications’ and to work closely with the supply chain department.

Caroline’s next career step led her to CQC Ltd, a world leader in military equipment, where she worked as Business Development/Technical Manager/PPE/Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear (CBRN) world wide for five years.

In the last 12 months with Johnsons Workwear, Caroline has successfully brought her strong textiles background to the business. “It’s my role to bridge the gap between the garment manufacturers and Johnsons Workwear and to help pass product knowledge on to our customers,” she says. “I’m experienced in working with PPE, and particularly in the chemical industry. It’s my passion to help keep our end users both comfortable and safe while delivering the best possible quality and value for money.”

We will be keeping you posted with new developments…