The Cooneen Group, headquartered in Fivemiletown, has acquired Tailored Image, a uniform company based near Dungannon in County Tyrone. The deal combines two long-established Northern Ireland textile manufacturers into a larger corporate clothing supplier.

Cooneen Group, founded in 1966, makes protective clothing, military wear, aviation products, workwear and licensed apparel. It operates sites across the UK, Europe and Asia. Tailored Image, set up in 1998 by the Birt family, provides design-led bespoke uniforms, logistics and wardrobe management services to clients in Ireland, Britain and Europe.

Major customers of the companies include easyJet, An Post, the NHS, Transport for London and Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

Eugene Greene, managing director of Cooneen Group, said Tailored Image had developed a strong reputation under the leadership of Bernard Birt and his co-directors. He indicated that the acquisition would bolster the group’s presence in the corporate uniform sector.

Bernard Birt, managing director of Tailored Image, said the move was an important step that would create opportunities to speed up innovation and improve service, while also expanding the combined client portfolio through access to Cooneen’s larger resources.

Both businesses stated that their operations, management teams and workforces would stay in place, and Tailored Image will continue using its existing brand.