Arco plans to create 200 jobs in Hull as it aims to secure £500m turnover by 2025

The firm, which already employs around 800 people in Hull, is also investing in its digital teams and expanding its retail operations in response to customer demand.

Neil Jowsey, Arco’s new chief executive, said the 133-year-old firm planned to hire extra staff when the firm’s new NDC2 (national distribution centre two) comes into service in 2018.

Along with new roles in Arco’s digital and customer service teams, this growth will enable the company to employ more than 1,000 staff in Hull from next year, Mr Jowsey said.

He added: “At Arco, we believe that everyone who goes to work has a basic human right to come home to their loved ones safely. No matter how challenging their work environment might be - from oil rigs and drilling platforms to factories and building sites - we’re here to make sure they have the protection they need while they’re getting the job done.”

Arco offers a range of more than 170,000 products, including personal protective equipment, clothing, footwear, and gloves.

Mr Jowsey added: “From where we sit now at £300m (turnover) to grow to £500m at 2025 is going to require us to step up our rates of growth.”

Mr Jowsey said the company, which already has around 50 shops, plans to keep investing in retail. Today, the company opened a shop near the Meadowhall Retail Park in South Yorkshire as part of this expansion strategy.

Mr Jowsey added: “We’re re-designing the way our business works fundamentally around digital processes. Last week we moved into some temporary offices in the digital quarter in Hull. We’re recruiting a team of around 50 new people, some are existing Arco employees, some are new people with digital skills. We have 26 IBM people on site re-building our new website.”

Arco is also seeking to develop new products and find new markets.

Mr Jowsey said: “There’s a development going on in many countries, where there is an increasing environment for legislation that seeks to do many of the things we have done for a long time in the UK so well, which has had a very positive effect on protecting workers from fatalities and injuries. We’re a largely UK-based business.. Here’s a fantastic opportunity to take what we do into pretty much any country around the world.”

Arco is a fourth-generation firm owned by the Martin family.

Mr Jowsey said it was a “fantastic moment” to build for the future, with Hull under the spotlight as the UK’s City of Culture.

Thomas Martin, Arco’s non-executive chairman, warned that improved transport links were needed between Northern cities to help Yorkshire reach its potential. He said he was working with the city leadership board in Hull to encourage businesses across the region to campaign for improved connections.

He added: “We can’t afford to wait for the Government to sort this out, we need to get on with this and start to make a bit more noise because, frankly, we need roads, we need rail and we need an airport. We haven’t got any of those yet...Let’s start with rail.”

He said improved rail connections would, for example, make it easier for staff to reach Arco’s new digital hub.

He added: “Unless we get better infrastructure it’s going to be hard to connect right across our region, and maximise what we’ve got to offer.”

Mr Martin said Arco has also worked with policymakers to ensure that health and safety regulations were proportionate, effective and clearly understood.

Arco, which was founded in 1884, distributes safety products and training. It reaches its customers through its product catalogue, interactive website and counter network of around 50 shops.

Arco donates more than one per cent of its pre-tax profits annually to support local charities, as part of its commitment to the community it serves.