The tremendous growth of Teemill, and its innovative circular loop supply chain, has led this Isle of Wight company to have a whole range of exciting positions opening up (see below).
Ventnor’s Tobias Penner, who leads the new all Island-born leadership team, explains that the recent round of jobs is linked to the company’s growth, as Teemill users are becoming larger and increasingly international.
“We have continued to grow and the original vision for the company is unchanged, to build a digital company that does something positive about sustainability here on the Isle of Wight, our home.
“Continuing to invest on the Island is what we want to do.”
What’s covered
In this feature we explore the evolution of this Isle of Wight business, its environmental core and mission of ending waste.
- In the beginning
- Combatting fast fashion
- What is Teemill?
- What is a circular loop supply chain?
- Enter Remill
- Helping people build their own brands
- A leading voice that’s changing the game
- The next generation of Teemillers
- 50 new jobs this year
In the beginning
The focus of the Isle of Wight company has always been to combat the environmental impact of fast fashion.
The journey began with Rapanui, initially creating eco-friendly T-shirts, then over the years expanding the clothing range to include sustainable jackets, towels and an exciting new range of womenswear.
The founders, Mart and Rob Drake-Knight, don’t sit still for long though – something we discovered back in 2008 (listen to the podcasts) – so it was no surprise a few years later to see something even more innovative and forward-thinking emerge from the Rapanui HQ.
Combatting fast fashion
The team realised that unless Rapanui was going to be the only company in the world selling no-waste fashion, there was still going to be the massive problem of unwanted fast fashion going to landfill.
A member of staff at Teemill explained,
“Fast fashion is the second biggest polluter in the world, a truck full of waste gets burned or buried in landfill every second, it’s a huge problem.”
Rapanui suddenly found lots of companies reaching out to them, interested in their supply chain and wanting to know whether it was something they could also access.
All of this interest from organisations such as BBC Earth, along with the company’s commitment to ending waste from fast fashion, resulted in the creation of Teemill.
What is Teemill?
Teemill is a free-to-use platform that allows any brand to set up their own version of Rapanui. They get to use the same circular loop supply chain, so they can have items made that will be able to be recycled over and over again. It’s an incredible way of ending waste.
This innovative real-time manufacturing system and software platform are what have resulted in Teemill being recognised with a Queen’s Award for Enterprise and Innovation.
What is the circular loop supply chain?
It’s thought that Teemill’s circular loop supply chain is one of a kind. Other companies are doing similar things, but none to the extent of the set-up here on the Isle of Wight.
Teemill’s products and packaging are made from natural materials, not plastic, and every product they make is designed to be sent back to them when it is worn out.
They make new products from the material they recover, and the cycle itself is renewable. All products are designed to be returned and remade, new from worn, again and again and again.
The products used and the supply chain are all environmental and positive for the planet.
Enter Remill
Teemill have been able to develop this way of working by reinvesting all of their profits back into business. By building the factory from scratch, making efficiencies and cost savings for each stage of the supply chain, they’ve been able to reinvest in the expensive process of remanufacturing T-shirts over and over: They call it Remill.
This process is not only expensive, but also complex. You might hear of other companies doing the same, but when you dig a bit deeper you’ll find that the cotton has, for example, been re-weaved with plastic.
When a product that contains plastic is washed, the microfibres and plastics enter our oceans and that is something that none of us want.
Attracting major brands
This way of working has attracted major brands such as Lush and Google. Teemill have more than 50 of the UK’s top charities with a store on the platform and they do loads of work with the likes of Surfers Against Sewage and Cancer Research UK.
Acting as a conduit between different organisations – such as the Bobby Moore Foundation and Cancer Research UK which saw the England football team wearing Teemill-produced T-shirts at the Euros – Teemill offers a really creative opportunity to help brands end waste, but also to help make money for charity and great causes.
Helping people build their own brands
If you were under the impression that Teemill was just a place that prints T-shirts, think again.
Within Teemill you’ll also find an in-house creative team who work with many of the major clients helping to create stunning or eye-catching designs. For example, all the BBC Earth T-shirts are designed right here on the Island.
One of the Digital Content Creators, Jay, said,
“The thing I most enjoy about being at Teemill is working as a team to achieve a goal. The support and coaching I get daily is really important for my own personal development.
“I love working alongside people who share the same drive and ambition. The team are rad.”
A leading voice that’s changing the game
There’s also a marketing division, business partnership and our modern, full-stack software engineering team build products that millions of people use to make the world more sustainable.
Teemill have helped tens of thousands of businesses get started and put an end to the devastating impact of the clothing industry.
Emily, who works as a Content Marketing Lead, added,
“As the first ever platform to offer a circular solution to the world’s environmental crisis, Teemill is a leading voice when it comes to changing the game and raising the stakes.
“What makes it such an exciting place to work is the constant opportunity for learning, as well as being able to get stuck into groundbreaking new projects daily that will make circularity the norm, not the exception.”
The next generation of Teemillers
The Teemill head office is based in Freshwater, whilst over in East Cowes you’ll find the latest manufacturing centre.
Teemill already employs around 130 Islanders, with many joining as graduate trainees or through the modern apprenticeship scheme.
Year on year the company has been doubling in size and the drive now is to find the right people to help them push forward with what is frankly, an awesome proposition.
Founders Mart and Rob are still heavily involved with the business, but have spent the last few years building up their current leadership team.
This next generation of Teemillers are those who joined the company as apprentices or trainees and have worked their way up. They’ll be running the show, whilst Mart and Rob step back to take a more executive role.
Recruiting 50 people this year
Teemill are looking to recruit another 50 people by the end of the year, with more again next year.
There is a wide range of careers available in the marketing team, software development, business development and partnership team, as well as some opportunities in the creative division.
As the year goes on they’ll also be looking for more people in the production team.
Join the gang
They are keen to hear from people from all different walks of life and experience. The focus in the past has been to bring in younger people and cultivate careers, but they also recognise that bringing experience and skills developed elsewhere will be beneficial and valuable.
You can start by exploring the roles already listed on Jobs OnTheWight – don’t forget to create an account on there and signup for email alerts, so you can hear about new roles as soon as they popup.
Our thanks to Teemill for sponsoring this feature. They and other businesses and organisations taking paid promotion enables you to continue reading OnTheWight for free
