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Spike1865
16-04-2015, 09:18 PM
Hey folks
I am looking fr sub gear made in England or the UK. Completely made, not just badge from Birmingham.
Anyone?
rgds
Spike

pisquee
16-04-2015, 10:59 PM
Where do you draw the line as to what you consider made in UK though - are you literally wanting all the raw materials and parts to be UK made?

ArferMo
16-04-2015, 11:23 PM
The sublimation ink won't be made in England

Justin
16-04-2015, 11:59 PM
May I ask why you want UK sourced Spike? Is this for a particular customer? What blanks are you looking to source?

Spike1865
17-04-2015, 05:58 AM
OK. Materials, ink etc can be outsourced but t-shirts actually assembled in England from quality materials.
Its for my own brand Justin.

Spike1865
17-04-2015, 05:58 AM
T-shirts and clothing fella.

pisquee
17-04-2015, 11:09 AM
Find a local seamstress/machinist who can make them up for you, you could then even print them before being sewn up to get a much better result.

Justin
17-04-2015, 02:43 PM
I had a company local to me in Long Eaton Spike that manufactured on site, not many left around. A basic white tee cost £20ea trade price! Great quality but at a price. Unless you're going to do a lot I can't see it making economic sense.

Spike1865
17-04-2015, 03:08 PM
Wow. That's expensive.

knightweb
17-04-2015, 03:39 PM
Hi Spike,

You're paying UK labour rates rather than Chinese rates, depends what your customers want

There's a Ladies Clothes factory shop not a million miles from you in Alfreton, David Nieper, there's nothing in there for less than £100, but the quality is excellent and they employ getting on for a 100 machinists, they have a niche for quality clothes made in the UK, mostly mail order, a strong company

Good on em, god knows how they manage it

Kevin

Spike1865
17-04-2015, 11:39 PM
£100 for a tshirt makes me feel we need to get back into the rag trade!!!

Justin
17-04-2015, 11:46 PM
I just used to get my clothing professionally relabelled, not expensive and looks great.

pisquee
18-04-2015, 12:02 AM
white polyester ribbon is easy to sublimate, fold and then sew into garment

mrs maggot
18-04-2015, 10:42 AM
Spike you live in Nottingham, still plenty of factories - not as many as there were but still a few and in Leicester you could contact mairajkhan@hotmail.co.uk the family run a garment factory in Leicester and do a lot of their own dye sub garments. otherwise get a list of clothing manufacturers in Nottingham, and do a bit of foot work, but you will definitely be able to get them made up

Spike1865
18-04-2015, 06:52 PM
Cheers folks. I might do that Mrs Maggot! I used to manage an account in my old worldwide logistics capacity for a company called Absolute Apparel. I believe his name was Khan. Maybe connected? Are they still going? A few times a year they would have MASSIVE shipments from places I can't divulge because of confidentiality reasons.

Justin
18-04-2015, 06:53 PM
Why is it imperative to use Uk sourced Spike? Is this just a preference or a USP?

Spike1865
18-04-2015, 07:04 PM
Apols Justin. I would rather employ British nationals.
No preference as to where they started life, my wife is Armenian. They are beautiful people. It borders Iran and whenever I go we go shooting/hunting over the border for BBQ food. Sorry for to any veggies I offend but I like still like meat!
Our production/manufacturing end of things has really died away and we need to help those that live here play a part. Not contract everything out as most do.
Rgds
Spike

Justin
18-04-2015, 08:47 PM
Uhm, not sure you could guarantee British Nationals in a UK based factory ;-) I'm all for supporting UK economy but not sure what your market will be, UK made shirts won't be cheap and very hard to justify when 99% of folk are only interested in price.

pisquee
18-04-2015, 09:20 PM
you could employ your own machinist either full time or on piece basis, this way you can employ them directly and make in-house, rather than contract out.
This is what we do.

Spike1865
18-04-2015, 09:55 PM
I guess it's a me thing then Just. But that is what I'd prefer.
Pisq. I can't afford those overheads so I guess I'm struggling. Like Homer... D'oh... I can get racks of work.

Justin
18-04-2015, 10:03 PM
Understand where you're coming from and I'm not being argumentative :-). Its just that unless you have very deep pockets and a market ready for such garments I can't quite see the point.

mrs maggot
19-04-2015, 12:49 PM
Absolute Apparell are indeed still going - but you would not be buying Uk produced garments as far as i know they source all over the world - as others do - best bet is google and some phone calls in Nottingham, or nip down the motorway to Leicester

Justin
19-04-2015, 05:05 PM
Perhaps not quite what you're after but I visited BB Leisurewear in Derby a few years ago. All of their clothing is ethically sourced/made etc. A lot of emphasis of looking after factory staff/conditions. Appreciate this may not be British Nationals but good that some manufacturers have the right attitude.

pisquee
19-04-2015, 05:45 PM
may talk this through with our machinist
how many t-shirts would you want, and how often?
what sizes?
do you already have the cut/sew pattern?
do you have a budget in mind per piece?

WelshPete
30-04-2015, 09:49 AM
That aint gonna be cheap my man.

Andrew
30-04-2015, 12:10 PM
If it comes down to creating work for locals then you can do it the opposite way. The more we source from the Far East, the cheaper our prices, the more work we pick up....... the more people we employ.

ArferMo
30-04-2015, 12:24 PM
Ummmm.... like that way of thinking.

Earl Smith
05-05-2015, 10:02 AM
I read on an American forum a few years ago Someone asking the same thing. Made in the USA. The problem he had was that he was unionised and they were almost demanding that he sourced from the US. Similar answers came back about the prices being too high and that it would be impossible to compete.
My thoughts at the time was to ask the union people which Mobile phone they had and which TV they had at home. Made in the USA? I think not.

GoonerGary
05-05-2015, 11:31 AM
If it comes down to creating work for locals then you can do it the opposite way. The more we source from the Far East, the cheaper our prices, the more work we pick up....... the more people we employ.

Until nothing has any value and everything you own is disposable. Hiring the cheapest labour from wherever in the world, keeping them poor for your profits. Germany is successful because they kept their own industry, pay good wages and produce quality goods. The new affluent Chinese businesses owners buy German cars and Scottish whiskey, they have a taste for quality.

Spike1865
06-05-2015, 12:05 PM
If it comes down to creating work for locals then you can do it the opposite way. The more we source from the Far East, the cheaper our prices, the more work we pick up....... the more people we employ.
But you can't put Made in England on it.
rgds
Spike

Andrew
06-05-2015, 12:46 PM
But you can't put Made in England on it.
rgds
Spike

Sorry, a little confused. I Thought from the below reply it was more about creating jobs rather than a USP?

"Apols Justin. I would rather employ British nationals........
Our production/manufacturing end of things has really died away and we need to help those that live here play a part. Not contract everything out as most do. "

You can have "Printed in England" on it if you wish. "Created in England" is another option. Have had to do this with previous customers in UK.

Andrew
06-05-2015, 01:02 PM
Until nothing has any value and everything you own is disposable. Hiring the cheapest labour from wherever in the world, keeping them poor for your profits. Germany is successful because they kept their own industry, pay good wages and produce quality goods. The new affluent Chinese businesses owners buy German cars and Scottish whiskey, they have a taste for quality.

Not sure of where the relevance is or what point you are making. Where do your mugs and blanks come from?

Our single largest customer we supplied last year was in Germany. They now do it themselves by milking as much information from us and visits on an "open book policy", getting our factory accreditation then using it all for themselves. Germans are much the same as everywhere else for many industry sectors. Average wages in UK and Germany aren't that far off either.

GoonerGary
07-05-2015, 08:57 PM
The more we source from the Far East, the cheaper our prices, the more work we pick up....... the more people we employ.

The point is that British manufacturing jobs are lost because you are buying cheap imports. Germany is the second largest exporter after China. The USA have realized that they need to return to manufacturing. Do you think there is more money to be made manufacturing a BMW or just buying one? Buying cheap imports helps nobody but China. Germany has a successful economy because it has an emphasis on manufacturing. So yes, buy British.

Andrew
07-05-2015, 09:39 PM
So do you think the German suppliers of sublimation products or even blank tees has all their goods made in Germany? All of the blanks suppliers for sublimation I have either bought from or talked to have offered me shipment direct from source which has always been Far East. I am not in the market of car manufacturing and the thread is sourcing blank garments. Think you are crossing over into a more broad political issue.

I can also guarantee you I would not employ as many people if we bought our blanks from a UK manufacturer. Didn't really know we had many options in the UK for our industry. Perhaps we should have a separate category for sourcing UK manufactured goods to highlight the options instead of importing our blanks.