COTTON PRICE INCREASE
September 23, 2010
“The increase in the price of cotton has come as no surprise to our members. We have been aware of this ongoing rise in the cost of raw materials for some time, and the fact that cotton has increased in price by 50% since last year will no doubt affect our industry, particularly as inflation rises and the full impact of the increase in VAT is felt next year.
The supermarkets will be barely phased by this increase in price using School Uniform as they do often to draw in customers to buy food and other products. The price battlefield for market share has been unsustainable and we expect to see increases in prices everywhere.
These cost increases will of course impact on the majority of UK households. We provide specialist uniforms for as many as 75% of the UK’s schools with our sole product being school uniform. We do not advocate the recent trend towards “disposable clothing” believing instead that parents want quality and exceptionally good value. It is especially important that uniform lasts and does the job properly. Good value is not necessarily the cheapest item as many parents will testify.
As a sector we have suffered greatly and we call upon parents to help support their local Schoolwear supplier who aims to stock all items all year rather than for just six weeks of the year at Back to School. We need to join forces with all levels of the supply chain to deliver best quality and value for school uniforms. This way we will be able to minimise the impact of inflation on our customers”.
Michael Gove: Parents prefer strict discipline and school uniforms
September 21, 2010
Working class parents prefer strict discipline, school uniforms and traditional subjects to “wild and wacky” education theories,Education Secretary Michael Gove declared today.
Defending his plans to pump more money into poorer areas and to free schools from central control, Mr Gove said that the coalition Government had to directly tackle the “scandal of unequal opportunity” in education.
He spoke out as he made clear for the first time that the Department for Education has won a battle to “ring-fence” from Treasury cuts its plans to create a “pupil premium” for disadvantaged youngsters.
The One Show, School Uniform Special 31/8/2010
September 1, 2010
During the busiest week of our year, SA Chairman, David Burgess, was asked to speak on BBC’s prime time programme The One Show about the importance of school uniform.
“School uniform is used as the first line of defence against bad behaviour, whether it’s inside the school or outside the school, you can tell who it is and the school can stop it.
With the new academies and league tables, there’s lots of competition between schools, and uniform is used as one way of projecting the aspirations of the school. Uniforms are definitely here to stay. I think there role in our society is more necessary than ever.”
To see the report, that was broadcast at 7pm on 31st August, click here.
NB. Members may use the quote above in response to relevant media/press enquiries.
Piece in The Daily Telegraph
July 2, 2010
We are pleased to report that we have a piece in The Daily Telegraph today about our tall children story. Click Here The good news is that we have some national coverage, but as is ever the case, the journalist only covered the bits that he wanted which means that part of the story (unfair VAT and Schoolwear members who stock all sizes all year around) was somewhat cut short.
For your information the full quotation from our Chairman which was supplied was:
”This year in particular we have seen a huge range in sizes as children appear to be getting either larger or often slimmer and taller. This is something we rarely saw twenty years ago. Our members aim to stock all these sizes and find themselves regularly charging VAT on uniform for schoolchildren as young as 10 or 11 because they do not fit the norm and are deemed to be too large or too tall for their age”.
The Telegraph had specifically asked us for a stockist list to go with the article and we would like to thank all the members who agreed at short notice to be part of that list. In particular Mark Stevenson of Stevenson’s in St Albans who was interviewed by The Telegraph.
These things often work slowly and we would hope that even though this journalist only used part of the information supplied we may find that he picks up more of our stories in the future so we will continue to play the long game.
Budget 2010
June 24, 2010
So now we know where we stand with regards to the budget and we can begin to look at the impact on Schoolwear.. The SA are extremely pleased that we did not witness the end of the zero rating of children’s clothing and footwear for VAT purposes, which was much debated in recent weeks. Thank you to those who have given up their time to help us communicate our VAT message to politicians ahead of The Budget.
As you are aware we have campaigned heavily to reduce VAT on upper badged items to 5%…this rate is the best that we can hope for on garments which are clearly schoolwear and could not be mistaken for anything else. We made some progress with our discussions with the previous government, gaining the support of many M.Ps and we shall redouble our work with the new regime. We would like to think that our lobbying of George Osborne has had some impact and certainly we have been spared what we all feared the most.
Back to School 2010 will not now be disrupted by uncertainty for which we are very grateful, and we now know that we face a 20% VAT rate from 4th January 2011. It will certainly have an impact on our businesses but we should hope that we will not face any further changes for the duration of this government.
We will be refreshing our “Untax our Teens” campaign, and our work will continue to focus on the fact that full VAT on school clothing which is deemed to fit a 14-year old and above is a tax on education which cannot be justified.
Expect to see us at The Schoolwear Show in October, we would welcome your continued support of our efforts, and ask you to put the 17th October in your diary for our “Hollywood Nights” fund raising extravaganza. We shall be sending out details shortly but it is a chance to relax a little, while helping us to raise much needed funds to continue this work.
SA writes to the Chancellor
June 18, 2010
Today we have written to the Chancellor of the coalition Government George Osborne in advance of the emergency budget on 22nd June, outlining the SA’s opposition to any increase of VAT on school uniform.
Tesco’s 50p Polo. How low can you go?
June 14, 2010
Its that time of year again and bang on cue the supermarket behemoth Tesco claims its £3.75 uniform is as good a quality as anything on the market at that price. The comments are well worth reading.
The owner of a Bradford schoolwear shop which was left gutted by a major fire has vowed to re-open for business “whatever it takes”.
Javed Tahir said he was “devastated” about the wrecked Natasha School Uniform Shop.
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/8192751.Fire_hit_shop_s_boss_vows_to_return/
Fitter Schools event – Sponsorship Opportunity
May 21, 2010
The Fitter Schools Game Legacy Event 2010 is seeking sponsors to provide items such as food and drink, sports kit, medals and transport for school children across London.
This will provide the opportunity to connect your brand with London schools, teachers, primary schools and the local community.
The event is expected to have over 600 attendees from these groups.
For more information please email lewis.stagnetto@thespaway.com with your area of interest.
A 12-year-old schoolboy who is over 6ft tall was able to cast a vote at the General Election – even though he was wearing his school uniform.
