Schoolwear Association issues guidance following new rules for schools on uniform

The Schoolwear Association has issued guidance to its members about “potentially dramatic” changes to the school uniform supply chain.

Following The Department for Education’s (DfE) announcement that its School Uniform Guidelines are becoming statutory, the association is advising all those involved with any part of the school uniform market to make themselves aware of the changes.

The statutory guidelines, which are expected to be in place by the end of next year, will require schools to undertake tendering before selecting suppliers for school-specific uniform. The announcement that the previous guidelines would no longer be optional has led to a rush of enquiries from schools to the association about how to respond.

David Burgess, Chairman of the Schoolwear Association, said: “Although we believe that schools generally make sensible and pragmatic decisions about supply, price and the balance of school uniform, we welcome the changes as we believe they will create greater certainty for schools. However, this will have an impact on the industry, and we are advising members to contact us to ensure they prepare efficiently.”

The Schoolwear Association anticipates one effect of the statutory guidelines is that schools will take more control over who supplies with more schools trademarking their badges as a part of the tender process.

Mr Burgess said the schoolwear industry was already a highly competitive marketplace but that schools and suppliers needed to be aware of areas that might be seen as anti-competitive.

He said: “The Competition and Markets Authority has said it will monitor the effect of the rules to ensure that schools and suppliers comply with Competition Law. It is important that the industry responds to this, and as an association we have promised our cooperation with the CMA.”

"David Cameron must recognise the importance of school uniform and help independent British businesses"

David Burgess, the newly elected Chair of The Schoolwear Association, gives his thoughts on the results of the 2015 general election.

Last Friday's election results came as quite a shock to many, who were expecting a hung parliament in one of the most uncertain elections in Britain for 40 years. I see the result being positive for businesses, as we now won’t be looking at uncertainty.

We do not know what the Conservatives will plan to do specifically in terms of school uniform but what we do know is that as an association we are now very well placed to continue influencing the decision makers. It is part of our mission to make sure that Ministers, MPs and civil servants – as well as the public, teachers and governors - fully appreciate the benefits of school-specific uniform. We also know that education is important to the Conservatives, and that they are in favour of school pupils having a smart appearance.

We want this government to realise how important a good-quality school-specific uniform is to a child’s education and well-being and most importantly to put forward measures to help parents with education costs. Our members, who together clothe three quarters of Britain’s schoolchildren, are committed to providing high quality uniform, and we want the government to help families to afford the very best schoolwear that their children deserve.

Our members are all also British businesses providing jobs in the retail, wholesale and manufacturing sector so it is very encouraging to hear that the country’s economy grew by 2.6% last year and we want to keep it that way.

These members continue to face structural and economic pressures, not least unreasonable competition from a few overly powerful supermarket chains, so the new government needs to be supportive of small businesses.

For years we have lobbied for the exchequer to remove VAT on clothes for teenage students and more recently to introduce tax free school uniform vouchers. Although these have not yet been successful, we will not stop until something is done to help parents with the necessity that is school uniform.

Opinions on school uniform - which uniform do you prefer?

We visited a busy city centre to find out what parents and children think about school uniform. We also asked them to choose which uniform they preferred to buy/wear between a school-specific badged uniform or a plain uniform with no school badge. Which do you prefer...?

We, The Schoolwear Association, represent all those involved in the supply of school specific uniform including retailers, direct to school suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, suppliers, decorators, agents and schools.

The second part to this video will be coming soon...