How To Keep School Uniform Costs Under Control – Top Tips For Schools

The start of the new school year usually sparks a debate about school uniform with media reports indicating costs as high as £500.

So how can schools ensure parents get the best value for money when buying school uniform and are these headline figures really indicative of uniform costs?

YourSchoolUniform.com has a few tips to help schools provide value for money uniform with good availability and service.

1. Don’t be afraid of working closely with one supplier to provide your school uniform. Suppliers can offer better prices when they can buy larger volumes in advance and this depends on being able to forecast with some certainty what they will sell. A close working relationship between supplier and school can achieve this.
2. If you are going to work with several school uniform suppliers be aware that although prices may be competitive, this approach could impact availability and the level of service. It’s difficult for each supplier to gauge how much of the school’s uniform business they are going to get so may be minded to keep stock tight to avoid being left with unsold items.
3.  By going through a tendering process competitive prices for school uniform are available from the start and these will be more sustainable than when a supplier cuts its margins to compete with others. Where one supplier and a school work closely together the result is better forecasting and planning which in turn leads to better prices and availability. Working closely together doesn’t need to take up a lot of time by the school either.
4. Offer parents the freedom of choice recommended by the DfE by allowing them to buy some school uniform items such as trousers and skirts from wherever they prefer to shop.

At YourSchoolUniform.com we work hard at sourcing our own product to ensure we have control over quality, costs and availability. We plan requirements for the back to school period months in advance and working closely with schools enables us to deliver great value uniform and service.

• We calculate the cost of a primary and secondary school uniform much lower than media reports:
  A primary uniform with logoed items from YourSchoolUniform.com and shoes and trousers / skirt from a supermarket would cost £81.95. This includes 2 sweatshirts, 3 polos shirts, 1 book bag, PE T shirt and shorts with 2 pairs of trousers / skirts plus shoes from a supermarket.
• With a secondary school uniform costing £94.29 and rising to around £105.00 for schools wanting a truly bespoke and distinctive look. This includes blazer, tie, PE polo shirt, shorts, rugby top, sports socks and backpack with a supermarket supplying 2 pairs of trousers / skirt, 3 shirts and shoes.

It’s also worth remembering that some school uniform items won’t need to be bought every year so the cost in subsequent years is likely to be lower.

For more information about the service we offer and / or a free, no obligation consultation please contact our sales team on 01773 837379 or complete the contact form  with your details.