A UK high-tech clothing company has launched a design of high-visibility work wear that can be seen 1.5 miles away. The clothing works by incorporating a battery into the vest that powers lights concealed in the reflective strips.
The jackets have been adopted by several leading firms in the UK construction industry, including Balfour Beatty, London Underground and Lafarge.Â
The battery provides 15 hours of light before it needs to be recharged, and the clothes can be washed 25 times and still retain their ability to illuminate, compared with 10 washes for standard reflective clothing.
The ultra-high-vis jackets were the brainchild of Andrew Kimitri, 40, who spent three years developing the concept before launching his Fhoss company last November. He said: "High-vis clothing hasn’t changed for 20 years. The main achievement was to get a battery on a man." He obtained £750,000 in seed capital and has already begun exporting to America, Australia and Europe.
Fhoss, which means "light" in Greek, is forecasting a turnover £3m in the coming financial year and hopes to hit £10m in revenues within the next five years.
