United Repair Centre

The United Repair Centre provided B2B clothing repair and re-commerce solutions for clothing and accessories. This initiative created movement with positive environmental impact and social employment.

The United Repair Center officially opened its doors July 1, 2022, and repairs garments from Patagonia and others. Advocating a different mindset: Repair is the new cool.

Listen to the podcast (in Dutch): Zo maken we de kledingindustrie duurzamer.

Results with the United Repair Centre

• 13 FTE of which 7 are distanced from employment
• Production capacity of 20,000 repairs per year

Why the United Repair Centre?

Many brands and retailers have gained experience in offering repair services. Few have managed to make this a permanent part of their activities. Especially since repair requires very specific knowledge and skills. That realisation kicked off the regional Green Deal Circular Textiles.

A shared repair centre could provide a lasting service due to greater scale. Thus reducing the growing negative impact of the textile industry.

The United Repair Centre (URC) repairs clothing for various brands. And provides employment opportunities for 100-150 refugees with a residence permit or people who otherwise would not easily find work until 2025. In September 2022, URC launched a training programme that trained 300 students to become certified textile repairers. They did this in partnership with House of Denim.

The foundation for the URC was laid by Makers Unite who already had a similar social enterprise for producing clothing locally. Patagonia was instrumental in bringing in their experience in repair. ROM InWest made a significant contribution in the first round of funding.