ImagesMagUK_November_2020

IS DECORATOR PROFILE www.images-magazine.com 38 images NOVEMBER 2020 It is not trying to be an edgy fashion brand but something family-friendly with an eco angle trade basis, we have started working with a couple of guys that are in the industry but no longer have their own facility,” Pete says. Order fulfilment is another area they are looking to develop, either with customers supplying their own garments or using Barlow Park’s blanks, while a design resource has already been brought in-house. In line with its ethos of sustainability, the company is also exploring how to be more eco-friendly such as reducing plastic packaging. Expanding beyond embroidery To meet the broader offering, Barlow Park has expanded beyond embroidery, investing in a Mimaki CJV150-75 wide format printer, which is used alongside a Fusion IQ heat press to print transfers for garments, caps and book bags, mainly for short runs and quick- response jobs. More intricate or larger transfers are farmed out but still applied in-house. The company has also bought a Brother GTX DTG printer, which lends itself well to the increasingly popular leavers’ hoodies for schools, and “opens up all sorts of other opportunities for us”, Tim points out. At the moment, screen printing is outsourced; however, the aim is to ultimately bring this in-house as well by acquiring an existing screen printing business. Last year, Barlow Park moved from School Trends’ “cavernous” 48,000 sq ft warehouse site in south-east Sheffield to two leased units that cover 13,500 sq ft and are only half a mile away. The relocation laid the foundation for diversification as well as future plans. After a hiatus of three years, it plans to launch a new School Trends schoolwear brand, offering its own range of products such as T-shirts, polo shirts, sweatshirts and hoodies. “With the white label, we already have the relationship with the factory in Bangladesh so it’s an extension of being able to do that,” Tim explains. “There are savings to be made in buying opportunities.” Like other schoolwear suppliers, School Trends shut as soon as lockdown started, putting all staff on furlough, but they returned for “back to school”, which was up 25% year on year. However, Covid-19 restrictions have had a permanent impact on the route to market, shifting from direct-to- school to direct-to-parent. Out of its list of around 4,000 state schools and academies, more than half now use the direct-to-parent service through their own ecommerce sites. “In the current circumstances, they were persuaded they should transfer the business over and let parents buy direct from us,” Tim says. “Also, we definitely found parents who may have visited the local high street independent schoolwear supplier and decided it would be safer for them to buy it online. It has accelerated what was already a trend in that market.” De-risking seasonality Since the takeover, more schools have come on board at School Trends and it hit its first-year turnover target of £4 million. However, Barlow Park’s ambition is to shift the split from 99% schoolwear to 50% by expanding both other services and the historic core business. “With all the uncertainty around in the economy at the moment, whether it’s Covid or Brexit or whatever is causing it, it’s not easy,” Tim adds. “What we are looking to do is develop a number of brands across a number of related markets that use the skill set and assets that we have within the schoolwear business within other areas to de-risk the seasonality and offer growth prospects in other areas.” www.schooltrends.co.uk www.goldthorpe-emb.co.uk SIQS workwear Have It All Fashion Barlow Park uses Madeira threads The Be Kind T-shirt