The Spa at Carden
The Spa at Carden, in the Cheshire countryside, began sourcing uniforms for its head therapists from Florence Roby three months ago.
A multi-award winning, destination spa hotel, The Spa at Carden boasts one of the UK’s largest spa gardens, filled with hot tubs, a heated vitality pool, thermal pods and herbal lounge area. The indoor thermal facilities include saunas, a tepidarium, steam rooms and experience showers. It employs more than 34 therapists.
Spa director Emma Pridding says: “I wasn’t actively looking for a new uniform brand, but I have worked with Florence Roby’s Karen Hesketh before, and was impressed when she visited to show me their styles.
What caught my attention very early on was how flexible Florence Roby was when it came to creating bespoke variations for us. A couple of our therapists are quite tall and we have had issues with previous brands where the uniform isn’t comfortable for them to wear all day, especially if they are doing lots of massages and need freedom of movement.
Florence Roby is based in the UK, close to where we are, and they were able to make bespoke alterations for our taller therapists that went beyond just extending the length of the trousers to ensure comfort as well as a good fit. Their seamstresses have been great.”
The Spa at Carden has opted for Florence Roby’s best-selling Ancona Tunic in grey and teal, with the Parallel Trouser.
Emma Pridding added: “From a business perspective, the Teal colour is similar enough to our old uniforms that we haven’t had to replace all our stock in one go. This was a significant part of my business case, as replacing an entire therapy department’s uniform in one go is extremely costly. We’ve been able to begin with our head therapists and are moving through the existing team, gradually updating our stock as uniforms wear out, or new team members join us.
Florence Roby makes comfortable, hard-wearing uniforms that crucially don’t need a lot of TLC. Our therapists can simply wash, hang and dry them, no ironing required. The feedback from my staff is that they’re comfortable, with more stretch than our old uniforms, which is vital for massage-based treatments. Even the dresses and the suits for managers have got enough give to ensure they’re comfortable when you reach and stretch and for me, that comfort is what matters most.”