Affiliations & Good Practice
All of our suppliers are vetted for best ethical practices and we keep an up to date record of all our suppliers and manufacturers ethical supply policies and statements along with records of other good industry practice.
Brenda's Schoolwear are very proud to have been named the Best Schoolwear Store in the Childrenswear Buyer Independent Retail Awards 2016, following on from our Highly Commended Award in 2015!
Brenda's Schoolwear are members of the Schoolwear Association and are signed up to the Association's Code of Practice.
The Schoolwear Association was formed in 2006 to promote the benefits of school specific uniform and to establish strong standards in the supply chain of garments to parents and schools.
The Association has in excess of 250 supplier and retail members who pay a subscription to support the work of The Association, believing, as we do, that the industry should adopt a code of practice and work with schools to further the provision of good school uniform and all the benefits that confers on both the school, and the students. Our members supply 75% of all schools in the UK. Our Code of Practice is enclosed below for your reference.
- Members will respect the logos and trademarks of individual schools. They will not supply uniform against the wishes of a school.
- Members must commit to keeping appropriate stock levels 12months of the year.
- Members must commit to providing uniform for ALL pupils, regardless of size or shape.
- Members are encouraged to ensure that the garments they sell are produced in an ethical manner, both in terms of employment and attitude to the environment.
- Members should agree with schools a detailed product list and not make changes, to quality or brand, without the consent of the school.
- Members must give the school as much notice as possible of any events which might have an adverse effect on their ability to supply the agreed uniform.
- Adequate time should be allowed to ensure that the supply chain can react to any proposed changes to the uniform in a non wasteful manner. Changes made at too short a notice could result in costly waste of special products that have to be paid for somehow. Best practice is to work with suppliers on changes to ensure a fast and easy transition. Special products can require 6-9mths lead times.
- If a school is considering changes to their uniform or supplier then members should embrace and actively engage in a tender process, encouraging the schools evaluation of suppliers to take into account the following criteria:
- Desired quality, durability, and price of the product.
- A fair, maximum price should be agreed for each school specific item
- Availability of the product.
- Equitability of the product.
- Service offered.
- Contributions. (These must be documented and be public knowledge.)
- Where the school is considering changes, members should encourage the school to enter a consultation period with pupils and parents and take into account their views prior to the award of a contract.
- The school should be encouraged to give parents clear guidelines as to which items must be school specific and which can be generic.
- If selected as a supplier, members should encourage schools to inform parents and pupils of their
- Members should discourage schools from choosing uniform which may prove un-affordable or otherwise inequitable to any potential pupils.
- Members should encourage schools to inform all suppliers (where more than one supplier is appointed) of any changes to uniform requirements.
- Members should observe a respectful relationship with competitors where the supply of uniform is shared.
- Members should endeavour to inform a school, at least annually, of any new product development, e.g. improved fabrics.
This code of practice meets the government guidelines and is in line with the National Governors Association Code of Practice for school uniform.
For further information please visit www.schoolwearassociation.co.uk.
Fair Trade, Organic and Recycled Goods
Many of our suppliers offer forms of Fair Trade goods, with some offering organic cotton as a material option, however the Fair Trade scheme and labeling for garments has largely been removed. These garments are still available but unfortunately moreover they are for very large bespoke orders.
Given that we require all of our suppliers to provide us with ethical trade practices and policies we are confident that all elements of the supply chain are treated fairly.
One of our preferred suppliers, David Luke Ltd. also supply school blazers manufactured from 100% recycled plastic bottles and are also moving a number of other product lines over to using recycled material.
For more Information on Eco Uniform please visit David Luke
If you would like to know more about Fair Trade, Organic or garments from recycled materials please contact us.