Sri Lanka’s efforts to promote occupational safety and health at workplaces across the island are to be supported by the country’s single largest apparel exporter Brandix as principal sponsor of the 2015 National Occupational Safety & Health (OSH) week.

Organised by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) of the Ministry of Labour, this year’s National Occupational Safety & Health week is scheduled for 12th – 16th October 2015, with the National Conference taking place on Wednesday 14th October.

This is the sixth consecutive year that Brandix is taking the lead role among corporate entities to support the programme, and the eighth occasion overall that the Group is supporting events conducted for the National Safety Week initiative.

The theme of the week is aligned with the concept of ‘Fostering OSH Culture at the Workplace’ highlighting the importance of occupational safety and health, occupational injury prevention, minimising absenteeism and OSH based innovations to improve productivity in the country’s economic development drive.

“Occupational safety and health is one of the top operational priorities at Brandix because it contributes to employee wellbeing, enhances compliance and underpins productivity,” said Air Chief Marshal (Retd) Harsha Abeywickrema, Director, Brandix Apparel Limited. “Brandix is acknowledged as one of the leaders in occupational safety and health indicators, and we feel duty-bound to support efforts to inculcate a culture that recognises the importance of this aspect at workplaces in Sri Lanka.”

The sponsorship cheque for the 2015 National Safety Week programme was presented by Brandix to the Minister of Labour & Trade Union Relations, John Seneviratne in the presence of the Secretary to the Ministry Gotabhaya Jayaratne and Dr (Ms) Champika Amarasinghe, Director General of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.

The pioneer of the concept of ‘total solutions’ in Sri Lanka’s apparel sector and a preferred supplier to some of the world’s top apparel labels, Brandix is also a benchmark and international award winner for eco-friendly manufacture and commitment to environmental best practice.

Launches ‘Junior Jalavahini’ with training programme in Kalpitiya for new generation of community water custodians

A new initiative to support young women holding office in community-based organisations responsible for water management and water security has been launched by the Brandix Group, as an extension of its ‘Jalavahini’ programme focussed on women community leaders.

Aptly titled ‘Junior Jalavahini’, this second phase of the programme is intended to empower a new generation of women with the knowledge they will need in the future, to become full partners in sustainable water development in areas where community water projects supply local needs.

The programme envisages the provision of financial assistance where necessary, and the imparting of knowledge, experience and training in areas such as storage and distribution of water, harvesting of rain water and sustainable water resources management.

The ‘Jalavahini’ programme was launched by Brandix in June 2012 to train women in rural communities who have ‘hands-on’ roles at the grassroots level in the water sector.

The first training programme under the Junior Jalavahini programme was conducted recently at the Coastal Environmental Centre, Kalpitiya and was attended by the next generation young women leaders from the area. Among the topics covered were Climate change adaptation and water management, Gender issues, Financial literacy, Non-toxic home gardening for livelihood security, Personality development and Leadership for community development in water.

“Although women play pivotal volunteer roles in community based organisations responsible for water distribution in many parts of Sri Lanka, they have little or no access to the knowledge and advice they need to manage and develop their projects or to improve their lives,” said Anusha Alles, Head of CSR at the Brandix Group. “Women are also the worst affected in times and areas where water is scarce. The Jalavahini and Junior Jalavahini programmes seek to systematically remedy this problem.”

Sri Lanka has about 3,500 community based organisations in the water sector, functioning at differing levels of success. They are estimated to be responsible for a sixth of the country’s water supply.

The Brandix Group’s principal corporate social responsibility efforts are driven by the CSR division of the company – The Bindu Foundation – under the central theme of Water, and constitute a long term commitment to increasing the availability of water and the provision of safe drinking water to those most in need.

Less than nine months after it was commissioned, the new head office of the Brandix Group won the ‘Gold Flame’ for Commercial Buildings in the Large Scale category at the Sri Lanka National Energy Efficiency Awards 2015, reaffirming the apparel manufacturing giant’s commitment to the environment.

The award presented by President Maithripala Sirisena to Brandix Group Director Feroz Omar and Head of Engineering, Environment & Energy Management Iresha Somarathna at the BMICH, recognises the substantial savings achieved in energy consumption through the eco-friendly design of the new eight-storey edifice of 37,800 square feet, its state-of-the-art energy-efficient technology and sophisticated intelligent building management systems.

Built on the site of the Group’s previous head office on the intersection of Rheinland Place, Colombo 3 and Marine Drive, the visually minimalistic tower’s double-glazed Argon-filled black tinted glass walls give the structure improved thermal insulation and a high solar reflectance index, keeping its interiors cool.

The all new building, purpose-designed by Architect Murad Ismail, accommodates approximately 200 people, sets a new benchmark for low-carbon smart buildings and makes a statement for the Brandix Group’s position as the thought and process leader in eco-friendly operations among Sri Lanka’s apparel manufacturers.

The extensive use of a unique self-cleaning glass as exterior walls provides the building’s occupants with panoramic views of the Indian Ocean and Colombo City while reducing energy consumption. Wired for extreme efficiency, sophistication and security inside, the new building is the home of senior management and all centralised corporate functions of the Brandix Group, Sri Lanka’s largest apparel exporter.

“Brandix embarked on its Green journey many years ago, and today, the environment is instinctively factored in to everything we do,” Group Director Feroz Omar said, commenting on this latest accolade. “We therefore set very exacting standards and specifications for the design and construction of our head office building. Winning Gold at the National Energy Efficiency Awards for this building gives us immense satisfaction.”

Commissioned on 1st March 2015, the Brandix HQ has 29,783 square feet of air conditioned office space, but has an electricity consumption of just 4.63 kWh/1,000 ft2, well below the baseline set for commercial buildings.

Daylight harvesting facilitated by a high window to wall ratio, the use of Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting controlled by a smart system that switches on and adjusts lux levels based on ambient light and occupancy, and a highly energy-efficient water-cooled air conditioning system with magnetic bearing technology, — a first for Sri Lanka — variable speed drives, temperature and occupancy sensors and low power consuming fan coil units, are among the energy saving features of the new smart building.

It operates a series of integrated Extra Low Voltage (ELV) systems for its Building Management System, access control system, lighting control system, Lync telephony, meeting room management system, washroom feedback system, seamless wireless network connectivity and integrated fire safety detection system among others, making the building one of the most intelligent in the city.

Over the past two years, the Brandix Group’s operations encompassing Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh have achieved a 17.4 per cent reduction in emissions, improved renewal energy usage to 23 per cent, saved 2.9 million litres of heavy fuel oil, used 453MWh of solar electricity per year, harvested 208,719M3 of rain water, recycled 255,604 M3 of water, recycled 49 per cent of solid waste and diverted 96.8 per cent of solid waste from landfill.

One of the largest suppliers of apparel to top retail brands in the US and Europe, Brandix is a benchmark and international award winner for eco-friendly manufacture and commitment to environmental best practice. The Group was recognised as Sri Lanka’s ‘Organisation Committed to Green’ by the Green Building Council of Sri Lanka (GBCSL) in 2014.

The Brandix Group emerged champions in two Women’s divisions and runners-up in two Men’s divisions and a ‘Veterans’ division at the 2015 Mercantile Badminton Association (MBA) championships, to be adjudged the overall runner-up, achieving its best ranking in Badminton to date.

Brandix fielded a total of 39 players at this year’s tournament, playing in nine divisions, six Men’s and three Women’s. Seven of the nine Brandix teams won places in the championship, which brought together 189 teams representing 67 organisations.

At the end of the tournament, the 32nd conducted by the MBA, Brandix annexed the Women’s B and C division trophies beating John Keells Holdings in both the finals. The Brandix Men’s teams were the runners-up in the Men’s B and E divisions, and in the Veterans A division.

Two Brandix Group company shuttlers, Sujani De Costa of Quenby Lanka Prints and Roshni Fernando of Brandix Intimate Apparel, were adjudged Best Players in the Women’s B and C divisions respectively.

The Brandix Group’s contribution to the country’s export economy was recognised at the highest level this week when Sri Lanka’s single largest apparel exporter was presented with eight Presidential Export Awards at a ceremony presided over by the country’s Head of State.

Brandix was recognised as the Sri Lankan Exporter of the Year in respect of 2012 and 2013, was adjudged the Best Exporter in the Apparel Sector in those two years, and was honoured with four Special Awards for being the Highest Net Foreign Exchange Earner and the Highest Employment Provider in the Export Industry in 2012 and 2013.

The collection of awards presented to the Group by President Maithripala Sirisena and senior ministers of the government at the Nelum Pokuna Theatre on Wednesday, 16th December, made Brandix one of the biggest winners across all sectors at this prestigious event, held after a lapse of several years. Organised by the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB), this year’s event recognised export performances in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013.

“Brandix has continued to invest in expanding operations, in new technology and innovation and in eco-friendly manufacture. As a result, the Group has consistently added value to its offering, and helped keep Sri Lanka’s apparel industry competitive in the global arena,” Brandix CEO Ashroff Omar said.

“We are also delighted to note that of the eight Presidential Export Awards we won, six transcend the apparel sector, as they are in respect of the entire export industry,” Mr Omar added.

The eight Presidential Export Awards presented to Brandix this year bring the Group’s tally of accolades for export performance to 14. Brandix has been a consistent winner of these awards since 2003, when they were known as the National Awards for Export Excellence (NAEE). Brandix was first ranked as Sri Lanka’s most outstanding exporter and best in the apparel sector by the Export Development Board in 2003.

The Brandix CEO was specially invited by the EDB to address the gathering of export achievers at the awards presentation.

The headquarters building of the Brandix Group has been awarded the Green Mark – Platinum certification by the Ceylon Institute of Builders (CIOB), making it the first commercial building in Sri Lanka to receive this rating, developed by the Building Construction Authority (BCA) of Singapore to assess Green buildings.

The milestone award presented to Brandix by Special Projects Minister Dr Sarath Amunugama, is the second won by the building within a month. In November, the Brandix head office received the Gold at the National Energy Efficiency Awards.

The Green Mark recognises achievements in four key environment related indicators and a general category. In the assessment for the Green Mark – Platinum conferred on Brandix, the building was rated on Energy Efficiency, Water Efficiency, Sustainable Operations & Maintenance, Indoor Environment Quality and Other Green Features & Innovations.

The building received an overall score well above the 90 required to qualify for Platinum – the highest Green rating possible under the scheme.

“Our new headquarters building is a perfect representation of the Group’s deep-rooted commitment to sustainability,” Brandix Director Feroz Omar said. “The latest in technology was utilised to minimise its environmental footprint, and the two awards won in the space of a month are a fitting recognition of its status as a new benchmark for a Green office buildings in Sri Lanka.”

Commissioned on 1st March 2015, the eight-storey, 37,800 square foot Brandix HQ building has 29,783 square feet of air conditioned office space.

Purpose-designed by Architect Murad Ismail, the edifice accommodates approximately 200 people. The extensive use of double-glazed, Argon-filled, black tinted self-cleaning glass walls gives the structure improved thermal insulation and a high solar reflectance index, keeping its interiors cool. Daylight harvesting facilitated by a high window to wall ratio, the use of Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting controlled by a smart system that switches on and adjusts lux levels based on ambient light and occupancy, and a highly energy-efficient water-cooled, oil free magnetic bearing air conditioning system, all integrated into a series of sophisticated intelligent building management systems, enable significant savings in energy consumption.

One of the largest suppliers of apparel to top retail brands in the US and Europe, Brandix is an international award winner for eco-friendly manufacture and commitment to environmental best practice. The Group was recognised as Sri Lanka’s ‘Organisation Committed to Green’ by the Green Building Council of Sri Lanka (GBCSL) in 2014.

Provides water and sanitation facilities to schools and hospital under novel community initiative

Nivithigala in Sri Lanka’s Ratnapura District has been refreshed with water supply and sanitation facilities it received from Brandix, under the Group’s novel ‘model village’ themed community initiative.

Sri Lanka’s single largest apparel exporter has donated water supply and toilet facilities to five schools, two Sunday schools and a hospital in the Nivithigala area under the second project carried out under this initiative, benefitting more than 4,700 children and adults.

Inspired by the temple, school and tank – centred village development concept of yore, the Brandix programme identifies and addresses water-related issues facing people resident within a five kilometre radius of the Group’s factories. It involves the provision of water supply facilities to, or upgrading existing water supply infrastructure in schools, hospitals, places of worship, police stations and similar community locations.

The first Brandix Model Village programme benefitted residents of Polonnaruwa.

In Nivithigala, the project assisted the Thuthipitiya Viduhala; Parawaththa Vidyalaya; Watapotha Maha Vidyalaya; Sumana Kanitu Viduhala; Sumana Maha Vidyalaya; Sri Sudarshana Daham Vidyalaya – Watapotha; Sri Sucharitha Daham Vidyalaya – Kiribathgala and the Wathupitiya Hospital. In all, Brandix donated 13 toilets, five water supply facilities including tube wells and repaired a water tank.

“This approach of assisting public institutions and communal locations brings communities together and builds a sense of ownership that has lasting beneficial impacts,” Anusha Alles, Head of CSR of the Brandix Group said. “Projects of this nature enable our factories to play a role in the community, and become important contributors to the wellbeing of the people in their neighbourhoods.”

Brandix factories, usually one of the biggest employers in each community, become an intrinsic part of the social fabric of the village through their role as benefactors under this programme. The Group plans to extend these projects to an area within a 10 kilometre radius of its factories in the project’s second phase.

The Brandix Group’s principal CSR efforts are driven by the central corporate theme of ‘Water’ and are planned and executed by the ‘Bindu’ Foundation established by the Group for the purpose. These efforts represent a long term commitment to increasing the availability of water and the provision of safe drinking water to those most in need.

— Top apparel exporter marks World Water Day 2016 with ‘Diya Siththam’ contest for schools —

A novel initiative to inspire children to give expression to their views on water conservation and management through art has resulted in the Brandix Group engaging with 37 schools in Sri Lanka to commemorate World Water Day 2016.

The ‘Diya Siththam’ (Water Frescoes) programme conducted by the Bindu Foundation, the Corporate Social Responsibility division of the Group paved the way for nine schools whose thematic wall paintings were adjudged the best among participants to receive financial assistance from the country’s largest apparel exporter.

Driven by Brandix Group factories around Sri Lanka, the initiative brought together children from areas as geographically and socially diverse as Batticaloa, Polonnaruwa, Giritale, Koggala, Nivithigala, Rideegama, Seeduwa, Ratmalana and Avissawella to name a few, in an activity that stimulated deeper thought about the water-related issues facing many communities in Sri Lanka.

“The enthusiastic response of hundreds of children to this art competition was heartening and inspirational,” Anusha Alles, Head of CSR & Corporate Communications at Brandix said. “It was a great platform to educate a wide cross section of our future generation on the importance of water use and conservation, while providing them with an opportunity to have fun and explore their artistic skills.”

Brandix Group factories that participated in the programme identified schools in their areas to be invited to participate and provided them with the materials and tools required to produce their wall paintings under the theme ‘Water for the people; Water by the people.’ The competition was open to all age groups of students.

A team of judges travelled around the country to assess these efforts, at the end of which the wall paintings of five schools, Medirigiriya Central College, Giritale; Sri Rahula Maha Vidyalaya, Ratmalana; Halpathota Romanu Katholika Vidyalaya, Koggala; Kadawala Navodya Central College, Ratmalana and Peellawatta David De Silva Kanishta Vidyalaya, Katunayake were chosen as the best. Each of these schools received Rs 200,000 from Brandix for their efforts. The Group also rewarded every one of the four primary schools that participated, with a total of Rs 375,000 in cash prizes.

Engaging with employees or the community to increase awareness of the importance of managing water resources, improving access and conservation, and rewarding initiatives in this sphere have become part of an annual initiative at Brandix to mark World Water Day, commemorated worldwide on 22nd March.

The pioneer of the concept of ‘total solutions’ in Sri Lanka’s apparel sector and a preferred supplier to some of the top retail brands in the US and Europe, Brandix is a benchmark and international award winner for eco-friendly manufacture and commitment to environmental best practice. The Group’s principal CSR efforts are driven by the central corporate theme of ‘Water’ and constitute a long term commitment to increasing the availability of water and the provision of safe drinking water to those most in need.

Sri Lanka’s apparel giant continues its support for J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions in New York as Official Apparel Solutions Partner

The Brandix Group’s partnership with the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions in New York this January saw Sri Lanka’s leading apparel exporter on the global sporting stage for a third successive year as Official Apparel Solutions Partner and a Bronze Sponsor.

The world’s largest spectator squash event, the 2016 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions celebrated its 19th year of presenting the world’s best squash players in competition on the four-walled glass court in Vanderbilt Hall in New York’s Grand Central Terminal. Defending champion and World No. 1 Mohamed Elshorbagy from Egypt beat three-time world champion Nick Matthew (England) in the Men’s final, while seventh seed Nour El Sherbini from Egypt captured her first Tournament of Champions trophy by defeating 10th seed Amanda Sobhy (USA) in the Women’s final.

The 2016 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions featured 46 of the top 50 world-ranking players in the sport among the 112 athletes from 25 countries who competed in front of sell-out crowds throughout the week-long championship.

As part of its sponsorship of this Professional Squash Association (PSA) World Series event, Brandix presented custom-designed and branded players’ shirts to the players in the Men’s and Women’s draw.

The Tournament of Champions traces its distinguished international squash lineage back to 1930 when it was first staged as the “U.S. Professional.” In the late 70s it became the World Professional Squash Championships and then the Tournament of Champions in 1993. The list of titleholders is a veritable “who’s who” of squash through the years. The tournament has been played in 17 different cities, but is now closely identified with its majestic Grand Central Terminal venue where it was first presented in 1999.

Brandix has taken another significant step in its on-going efforts to promote gender equality across the Group by graduating 19 female mechanics who completed an in-house training course on sewing machine maintenance and repair.

Penetrating what was once a male bastion, the 19 female associates from four business clusters of the Brandix Group completed the intensive four-month training programme that covered 10 types of sewing machines and encompassed a comprehensive range of technical skills. The course was conducted at the Brandix College of Clothing Technology (BCCT).

Aged 18 to 30 years, these associates who had earlier been employed as sewing machine operators, quality controllers and helpers, have now been promoted to the position of Junior Mechanic with higher salaries and improved prospects for progression in their companies. With further training available within the Group, they may aspire to positions such as Maintenance Executive and Plant Engineer, the company said.

“We are delighted with the enthusiasm, passion and commitment of the batch, and with the success of the training programme,” said Iresha Somarathna, Group Head of Engineering at Brandix. “As a Group that is committed to equal opportunity employment, Brandix offers its executive and non-executive staff numerous opportunities for career progression, and it is most encouraging to see these opportunities being made the most of.”

The 19 female mechanics that completed the course were examined via a practical test, a written test and by their manuals and record-keeping. Notably, seven of the female mechanics obtained a High Distinction pass, while eight others received a Distinction.

Ranked Sri Lanka’s most valuable export brand in 2016 by Brand Finance, Brandix is the country’s single largest apparel exporter. The pioneer of the concept of ‘total solutions’ in Sri Lanka’s apparel sector and a preferred supplier to some of the top retail brands in the US and Europe, Brandix is also a benchmark and international award winner for eco-friendly manufacture and commitment to environmental best practice.