Polytex maintaining high retention rate

Eardley David

Polytex Garments Limited, a part of the global apparel giant the Esquel Group, has been an integral part of Sri Lanka's apparel industry for the last 36 years, and continues to grow from strength to strength. Specialising in the production of knit shirts, the company boasts of an impressive client portfolio which includes some of the most popular retail brands in the world such as Nike, Marks and Spencer, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Hugo Boss, Gap etc., and records over US$ 75million in turnover each year.

In line with the vision of its parent company, the Esquel Group, Polytex Garments is consistently focussed on maintaining a safe and rewarding work environment without compromising on the quality of the output. Hence, a testament to its success is the high retention rate among employees, with an approximately 97 percent retention rate specifically among the graduates of its comprehensive management trainee programme, and achievement Polytex considers an extreme honour.

"Polytex Garments is proud of the role we have played in the Sri Lankan garment industry and its development," said Eardley David, Director in charge of Polytex Group. "Since our inception in 1977, our goal has been success through innovation, employee welfare and sustainable growth. In all these regards, our parent company the Esquel Group has been the biggest proponent, and ensures that all of its subsidiaries adhere to the five "e-Culture" policy of ethics, environment, exploration, excellence and education. With their strong backing, we at Polytex Garments hope to further grow as a company, while simultaneously contributing to the local apparel industry as a whole."

Being recognized in both a local and international level is also of paramount importance to Polytex Garments; being awarded the ICAN recognition in the year 2011 and 2012 respectively, then having attainted their ISO 9001 certification in the year 2000 then again having obtained the ISO 14001 certification in the year 2002, truly believes in setting the standard in the garment industry.

The Hong Kong based Esquel Group is the only garment producer which is truly vertically integrated, and is involved in every stage of the supply chain from cotton farming to point of sale giving the company the advantage of having optimal control to ensure the highest quality.