SCHOOLWEAR BUYER: THE LATEST NEWS AND OPINION FROM THE SCHOOLWEAR INDUSTRY
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63: News
64: Vision 2015 Members of the schoolwear sector reveal their New Year’s resolutions for business.
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SCHOOLWEAR | WWW.CWB-ONLINE.CO.UK
Schoolwear NEWS: The latest news from the schoolwear industry LAW FIRM PROTECTS RIGHTS OF SCHOOL SPORTS SUPPLIER Law firm Clarion has successfully represented school supplier Falcon Sportswear following an infringement of its rights by a retailer selling counterfeit product among Falcon’s garments. Clarion’s intellectual property team liaised, initially with the retailer, and then with its representative, resulting in the counterfeit goods promptly being removed from the store. The retailer handed over the counterfeit stock to Falcon, paid the supplier damages, with costs recovered from the counterfeiter, too. “We weren’t prepared for our brand to be damaged,” says Falcon Sportswear’s MD, Leo Brumfitt. “We weren’t prepared for customers to be misled by another company copying our products. We take such matters seriously and, with Clarion’s help, were quickly able to resolve the issue, achieving the best possible outcome.” —
RICOSTA DEVELOPS SCHOOL SHOE COLLECTION Footwear brand Ricosta’s school shoe range is a key area for development for the label, with the company set to launch a host of new designs to meet increasing demand. Offering new styles and updated classics with a focus on fit and durability, highlights from the a/w 15 school shoe collection include smooth, full-grain leather shoes, Sympatex boots and waterproof sports-style shoes for boys. New additions for girls include a T-bar shoe, a twin Velcro waterproof boot and a zipped waterproof boot. Classic Mary Jane and lacing brogues in high-quality patent and nappa leathers also feature. Ricosta is represented by Footwear International, which celebrates being the brand’s UK agent for 30 years this year. —
NEWS IN BRIEF
TOUGHEES CELEBRATES SUCCESS IN UK MARKET In February, Toughees School Shoes will celebrate five years’ trading in the UK. Established for over 60 years in South Africa, where the shoes are still manufactured, Toughees has been distributed in the UK since 2010 and has been growing steadily since. Sharon New, director of New Brands, Toughees UK distributor, is looking forward to a celebratory New Year. “We reach a milestone in 2015 of five years of bringing the Toughees brand to the UK. The UK customer loves Toughees school shoes as we insist on high-quality leather, durability, style and comfort. Distributed UK-wide online and in over 100 stores, Toughees school shoes are going from strength-to-strength.” This year, Toughees is a finalist for the Footwear Industry Award for Best Children’s Footwear Brand as voted for by its customers. As well as plans to add further contemporary styles to the classic Toughees range in 2015, a Toughees school uniform range will also make its debut. —
PRINTWEAR SHOW TARGETS SCHOOLWEAR INDIES Printwear & Promotion Live will specifically target independent clothing retailers – particularly those in the schoolwear sector – with its garment customisation ranges. Taking place at Birmingham’s NEC on 22-24 February 2015, the trade show – which has been established for 26 years – has noticed an increase in visitors from the clothing retail sector in recent seasons. Last year saw 5,000 visitors attend the show, 15 per cent of which were schoolwear retailers. Almost half of all visitors attended to source embroidery machine supplies, leisurewear, sportswear and direct garment printing products. Under the schoolwear umbrella P&P Live! 2015 will play host to names including Balmoral Knitwear, Beechfield Brands, Blue Max Banner, BTC Activewear, Eskimo Epos, Finden + Hales, GForce Teamwear, Henbury, Mantis World, Rowlinson and Russell Europe. To further enhance the show this year, P&P Live! 2015 has also launched a new website and show app designed to connect exhibitors and visitors. —
— Following the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement announcement last month, Schoolwear Association chair Matthew Easter, stated, “Our members continue to face structural and economic pressures, not least unreasonable competition from a few overly powerful supermarket chains, so we welcome any measures to support small businesses. For years, we have lobbied for the exchequer to remove VAT on clothes for teenagers and more recently to introduce tax free school uniform
HEALTHY ADD-ON FOR SCHOOLWEAR SHOPS Recent arrival in the UK market through London based Bouncy Jam, the Yumbox is an innovative add-on product for schoolwear independents. The award-winning lunch box, available in two designs and seven colours, is designed to support nutritional balance, help with portion control, as well as being leak-proof. The lunch box helps school children to facilitate healthy eating via a pre-portioned, illustrated removable tray, which is divided into the key food groups: fruit, vegetable, grains, protein and dairy. All materials used in production of Yumbox are food-safe, BPA-free and phthalates-free. —
vouchers, for which we have a petition at http://epetitions. direct.gov.uk/petitions/65790.” — As an alternative to sending Christmas cards for 2014, schoolwear supplier Trutex opted to donate money to Cancer Research UK. The company donated £250 to the charity.
and school trips and were key concerns. The study, commissioned by teaching union the NASUWT, and which surveyed over 1,000 parents of children attending primary and secondary school, showed a third of parents think the cost of uniform is too high.
— A study to explore the factors affecting parents’ confidence in schools and colleges has revealed affordability of school uniform JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 - 63
PEOPLE | WWW.CWB-ONLINE.CO.UK
VISION 2015
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Whether you believe in “making resolutions” or not, drawing up a list of action points for your business can only be conducive when it comes to achieving goals. CWB speaks to members of the schoolwear industry to discover the resolutions they have made for their businesses in order to support commercial success in 2015. —
“Our New Year’s resolution for William Turner is to increase export sales by 10 per cent in 2015. We started to focus more intently on targeting customers overseas in 2014, and have been pleased with the success we have had so far. There is great export potential for us – particularly with our very sought-after ‘made in the UK’ ties and scarves. We have plans to focus on three main global areas for growth in 2015.” Andy Smith, sales director, William Turner
“My New Year’s resolution is to further build customer awareness and strengthen our presence as a supplier of brand quality ‘fit for purpose’ garments in the schoolwear market. I plan to achieve this through an enhanced level of customer service, combined with increased marketing activity. We are delighted to have built up a strong customer base in the short space of time that we have. However, we do recognise that as a relatively new supplier to the schoolwear market, even with our proven background as a garment fabric supplier for 50 years, that it takes time to become trusted as a safe pair of hands in a new market and to give customers the confidence to stock our products over and above other traditional brands. The demand for more technical and fitted garments is growing rapidly, and we want to lead that change with superior products and a high-calibre service. In 2015, we will be producing a more informative and stylish new brochure, including four new premium products. There will also be more detailed information about our supply chain, quality procedures and stock levels than before in order to help demonstrate why we have the experience and resources to be trusted. Additionally, increased marketing material and technical support will be available to help us develop long-term relationships with a variety of specialist retailers and brands.” Joel Chadwick, managing director, Chadwick Teamwear
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“We have two resolutions this year, one is for the business-to-business face of the company and the other, for business to consumer. For the trade, we want to bring new products to the children’s stationery market and plan to do this through innovative designs that will encourage creativity and writing development. On the consumer front, we are going to attempt to find the oldest Helix pencil case! We plan to do this via social media and PR as part of the National Stationery Week campaign, which takes place from 27 April to 1 May 2015, and for which we are an official sponsor.” Lianne Granger, trade marketing executive, Helix Trading
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“I would like to focus on giving everyone in the trade a better understanding of all the good work that goes on within the Schoolwear Association. We can be guilty of not being the best self publicists, but it is important that the industry has a good idea about the work the Association is doing as it ultimately helps to drive the most support, which we need to ensure that we continue to be well represented in the media.” Matthew Easter, chair, The Schoolwear Association
“Our resolution this year is ‘to keep the customer at the forefront of our minds in everything we do.’ It is very easy for all our focus to be drawn into internal systems and processes, meaning we lose sight of our customers’ needs. For 2015 and beyond, we are focused on listening to our customers, providing them with the service that allows their business to function more efficiently. We want to be simple and convenient to deal with, providing orders on time and in full.” Mark Woolgar, operations manager, David Luke
“Top to Toe’s New Year resolution is to introduce a new system for co-ordinating our work internally. We need a functional, easy-to-use and time-saving system linking everything together – ideally in just the same way that the Top to Toe system organises our clients’ stock and websites.” Michael Bloom, director, Top to Toe
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“Toughees is a long-established, successful brand of school shoes, which has been manufactured in South Africa for 60 years. This year marks New Brands’ fifth anniversary distributing Toughees in the UK. Since the UK launch, we have been on a learning curve every day and, going forward, we are intent on continuing to learn more about our customers and their needs for the label. We also realise that our business is personal – it is not ‘just business’. Relationships with our customers, suppliers, investors and so on are the most important part of our success and we intend to work even harder this year to understand our customers’ requirements and subsequently develop products to meet these requirements. As a result, Toughees will be adding some great new styles to the 2015 range, so watch this space. Speaking more generally, we also believe in enjoying every moment, so we intend to continue with our light-hearted ethos and make every day count, asking ourselves, ‘What have we achieved, today?’ ‘Have we improved?’ Have we had fun?’ To sum up, our aim is to know more about our world than we did yesterday, grow our products and, consequently, our business relationships – oh, and having fun while we’re doing it.” Lincoln New, sales director at New Brands, the UK distributor of Toughees
“Our New Year’s resolution – or company vision for 2015 – is to achieve a positive customer satisfaction score of 100 per cent. We have been sending an annual survey out to all of our customers since 2003, with our most recent scores being 97.2 per cent in 2012, 96.7 per cent in 2013 and this year, we achieved 98 per cent. All of our staff are directly rewarded with extra holidays for high customer satisfaction scores, something we do to ensure that everyone in our business is totally customer focused. Our motto is ‘Be better’, and our holy grail is to achieve total satisfaction from all of our customers; for delivery to time, for quality, for customer service and for overall satisfaction. Customers will be getting the best possible service at all times, and for their efforts, our staff will all receive five extra holidays in the following year and, hopefully, for years beyond.” Donald Moore, managing director, Rowlinson JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 - 65
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CWB BUSINESS DIRECTORY ROCCAPINA AGENCY Agency representing high quality International brands offering classic, colourful and chic collections for ages 0-14 years. Covering the whole of the UK. LA QUEUE DU CHAT, BABINÉ BB, STURE&LISA, LEMON LOVES LIME, LOLLIPOP TWIRL, LEMON LOVES LAYETTE, GNU BRAND, BEBES CHIC Roccapina Agency, 8 Pembroke Close, Thrapston, Northants, NN14 4XJ Tel: 01832 776588 Fax: 01832 730188 Email: sales@roccapina.co.uk www.roccapina.co.uk
CHARVIN JAMES Specialists in emerging brands; children’s fashion and accessories. LES ENFANTINES, MARCHAND D’ETOILES, ANAISANDI, TOCOTO VINTAGE, TROIZENFANTS, OSCAR ET VALENTINE, CHARLIE CRANE, L’OISEAU BATEAU 10 Ledward Lane, Bowdon, Altrincham WA14 3AD Tel: 0161 900 2409 Email: karen.james@charvinjames.co.uk www.charvinjames.co.uk
WELDON AGENCIES Established for over 25 years, two generations, covering all areas of the UK. Representing leading brands from Europe and Canada, catering for boys and girls 0 to 16 years. Styling from contemporary to traditional. FUN & FUN, LE CHIC, DEUX PAR DEUX, NO NO, BOBOLI, FOQUE, SARDON, LARANJINHA Weldon Agencies, Southport, Merseyside Tel: 01704 576033 Email: barrieweldon@btconnect.com, andrewweldon@btconnect.com www.weldonagencies.co.uk
VANHUIZEN AGENCIES Van Huizen Agencies is a young, fresh and vibrant agency, for the more discerning retailer requiring beautiful and unique collections. OILILY CHILDRENSWEAR, LIONS OF PORCHES, NOA NOA MINIATURE COLLECTION Unit 1, First Floor, Paragon Works, Wilsthorpe Road, Long Eaton, Nottingham NG10 3JW. Tel: 07967 560633 Email: franck@vanhuizenagencies.co.uk www.vanhuizenagencies.co.uk