By the time this has reached most of you, I will have met up with a good number of yourselves at our exhibition at the NEC. As ever, there's a significant amount of behind the scenes work which has gone into this year's event which remains one of the highlights of the printwear calendar.

Leading multi-brand distributor PenCarrie has set the dates for a series of ‘Sneak Preview' events to introduce garment decorators to all the new products the company will be stocking in 2010. The events will take place between 9th and 20th November 2009 at venues throughout the UK.

Dickies (UK) Limited, one of the UK's leading workwear manufacturers, which is based in Midsomer Norton, Somerset, have introduced a premium range of stylish garments created for the modern worker who wants practical and durable clothing whilst looking and feeling good.

Workwear and Safety Footwear manufacturer MASCOT have been working hard to provide more protection for hard working feet by producing a boot specifically designed for the UK market. Incorporating the latest design developments in MASCOT Footwear the Batura Safety Boot provides the highest level of protection yet comes at a very competitive price.

The Badgemaster challenge

Leading international supplier of name badges, Badgemaster is inviting buyers to achieve the seemingly impossible: cut costs while improving quality and service.

A strong sense of anticipation has built around the arrival of Skinnifit's latest clothing collection.

TheMagicTouch has an innovative new product in the form of the SmartBox, a range of bespoke silver gift boxes to decorate and personalise.

The bpma will launch the second course of its new academy this month.

A.W.T. World Trade Inc. makes washing out and inspecting screen frames easier, more efficient, less messy, and more environmentally friendly with its extremely durable Kleen-View^TM Washout Sink. To reduce backsplash from high-pressure washout of ink residue, the stainless-steel Kleen-View features an extra-deep trough with a corrugated fiberglass back panel.

Organisers of the Sign and Digital Show at the NEC this April have confirmed that 90 percent of floorspace at the event has already been taken.

Hamamatsu, Japan, January 13, 2009. Roland DG Corporation today announced the completion of its Miyakoda factory expansion. The Miyakoda factory is responsible for producing the company's best-selling, wide-format inkjet printers for the durable graphics industry.

After the success of the 2009 brochure UKL have launched a new look web site. The web site has a new contemporary look with improved quick links to the most used areas.

In tandem with the launch of the new Kala Mistral wide-format laminator from UK distributor and specialists PFS, has revealed its latest Trade-in, trade up sales and marketing activities.

Say hello to the French, German, Turkish, Italian and Dutch exhibitors that have already signed up to the Promotional Marketing Exhibition (PME) European promotional merchandise companies are choosing The Promotional Marketing Exhibition 2009, held at the Royal Horticultura Halls, Westminster between March 24-26 to launch the latest products/services in a bid to penetrate the UK market.

Victory Design Ltd is celebrating 20 years as a supplier to sign making and garment personalisation industries.

From humble origins in a small corner shop it has developed into a lively and expansive business. Recent months have seen significant changesto both products and staff that will have a lasting impact on the company.

The entertainment giant Merlin Entertainments Group, owner of such iconic brands as Madame Tussauds, Alton Towers Resort, Chessington World of Adventures and Zoo and the London Eye, has just announced the accreditation of Taylor Made Designs as their Preferred Supplier for uniforms.

An impressive total of more than 250 suppliers from 21 countries turned out at the Ricoh arena, Coventry which attracted significant attendance

The promotions industry is dominated by Small to medium enterprises, and many of them will never have experienced a recession. What's important is proper financial planning and a focus on liquidity.

Yo Yo Yo, word out, peace off and mash up your groove....yes you guessed it screeners, I'm just back from a weekend in Philadelphia with my good friend and Hip Hopper, Whoop Doggy Puffhouse.

BACKING:

A bit of history: This is an odd subject in a way because it is one of those consumable products that everyone uses without really knowing why so that may be a good place to start before going on to the key question of "do you really need to use it"?

Squeezing every ounce of business out of every lead, doing your absolute utmost to close in every sales presentation has to be the most cost-effective way to improve the profitability of your business. One way to achieve this is to make your sales team more effective, to train them to a higher standard.

Choosing the right schooldwear garments is of vital importance in the printwear market. At the heart of this field is The Schoolwear Association which represents the interests of everyone from retailers, suppliers, direct-to-school and wholesalers to fabric manufacturers and garment decorators. It now has a new Chairman, David Burgess. The association casts an eye over what it believes will be the biggest trends for 2009.

Balmoral Knitwear can now offer both Made-in-Scotland school pullovers and off-shore knitwear made using its own yarns. "We have always made our bespoke lines in our own factory.

Bags specialist, Quadra has updated the traditional school backpack with its launch of two new designs that bring a dash of sophistication and style to the classroom.

Beezer have been successfully producing schoolwear garments for over two decades. One of the main reasons for that success is the company's ability to adapt existing garments to suit current trends within the industry. The Polo Shirt, for example, is a firm favourite and available in a wide variety of colours and sizes, the most popular being the single colour version from the company's Stock range.

Blue Max, with Stag now part of their portfolio, is one of the largest suppliers of schoolwear lines in the UK. The company has earned a well-deserved reputation amongst its customer base for offering quality, consistency and value in schoolwear. All garments comply with the latest safety legislation and all materials used in the dying process for childrenswear are Oeko Tex compliant and zips and toggle closures meet the most rigorous standards of safety.

BTC activewear offers a wide choice of popular Schoolwear brands including Jerzees Schoolwear, Fruit of the Loom, Gildan, Regatta and Result.

Fruit of the Loom has expanded its successful school wear collection with the launch of the new Children's Long Sleeve 65/35 Polo. The new style fills an important gap in the modern school wear wardrobe, states the company.

Schoolwear plays such an important part of the printwear market and Henbury has a number of products that fulfil this demand.

With millions of pounds of stock at its disposal Essex based I.S Enterprises has a wide schoolwear selection.

Jerzees says there's a lot to shout about in 2009. A new "Less is More" range; a refined fleece range; two new contemporary jackets and, the cherry on the cake: the no.1 iconic sweatshirt, Jerzees Schoolgear's 762, raises its game further.

Given their chance, kids would choose to run around in T-shirts and polo's instead of the more formal and less comfortable woven shirts, which is why the Schoolwear market now revolves around these easy-to-wear and highly practical garments.

The Humbugz collection from Mantis World offers a range of exciting, high quality, fashion focused styles for kids. Whether looking for classic tees or polos for uniforms or sporty styles for extra curriculum and outdoor activities, there's something for all occasion.

Schoolwear is a sector where decorators can make their mark as dependable suppliers of quality clothing, says PenCarrie. "There is no substitute for quality when seeking out value-for-money schoolwear and the schools know this," comments Andrea Charteris, the company's customer services manager.

This is a great flexible style for kids which can be worn 2 ways - for warmth and waterproofness, wear it with the Hydrafort fabric on the outer side. When the weather gets better and for an alternative look, reverse it for a fleece outer! This is perfect school wear!

Rowlinson is delighted to announce that it has increased its offer on the specialised and personalised Schoolwear that forms the heart of its business and has launched its new Woodbank Signatures range to the market.

As one of the industry's leading distributors, UKL says schoolwear remains a core part of the business.

As a business model, Mary Fawcus's philosophy of supplying quality products and smart service at realistic prices has proven a winning formula.

In any business or industry it is important to have the support you need in order to be successful. As a trade association representing its members, PROMOTA also acts as a support network for the promotional merchandise industry, offering its members a variety of member benefits to support them in a wide range of areas.

We are already a few months into 2009 and I think this is an excellent time for businesses to reflect on what is ahead for the coming year. In what is going to be a tough year for all companies in all industries, now is a good time to look at how you spend your budget and what the added value of that spend will be.

The new B181 Coolmax© Performance Cap, the latest addition to Beechfield's Sport Collection, should be your first choice for any fitness activity, according to the brand.

Alo's meticulously designed styles for both men and women feature several special treatments applied to the fabric, designed to provide optimum performance for the user, regardless of the task at hand. Alo's unique treatments and fabrics include Cool Fit which draws moisture away from the body, anti-microbal treatment for odour free garments, and Stretch-Flex for extra garment comfort. Its products are also certified organic and also use recycled polyester.

Everything Environmental) has unveiled an eco-friendly product which should prove a strong seller in the health and fitness market. Its Biodegrade-a-bottle is the only reusable, biodegradable water bottle (which will degrade in landfill) in the UK. They are available in two sizes

BTC activewear distribute a wide selection of brands whose products are designed for the ever-growing heath and fitness market including the Gamegear range of teamwear garments.

Finden+Hales understands the importance of co-ordinated teamwear and its current collection ensures each garment can be matched with any other clothing in the range.

Finden+Hales understands the importance of co-ordinated teamwear and its current collection ensures each garment can be matched with any other clothing in the range.

The Fruit of the Loom Lady-Fit Lightweight T and Lady-Fit Lightweight Hooded T are two new contemporary styles for suppliers to the fitness wear market. Both garments use the company's newly developed 100% cotton sheer fabric, (125 / 135 gm/m2), and feature the shaped side seams and low necklines that are currently all the fashion at gyms and fitness centres.

Many of us resolve to become fitter at New Year, but the trend for clothing previously worn for sport and fitness to become everyday wear continues to grow throughout the corporatewear market. Again the classic poloshirt makes an appearance, the H100 in 100% cotton is now in an impressive 40 colours and the matching ladies option H121 in 14 colours. Both sport the Henbury stand up collar which provides shape retention and prevents the collar curling.

No matter if you are at a dizzy height on the step machine, run many kilometres on the treadmill or lift weights - with James & Nicholson's functional fitness wear, athletes do not feel sweat on their skin says the company.

Performance fabrics also feature in the Kariban Sports range of activewear, which (having the continental styling of parent brand Kariban) looks good as leisurewear too.  PenCarrie stocks all six of Kariban Sports' new styles for 2009 including KS017 short sleeve T-Shirt and KS025 long sleeve T-Shirt, both made from a quick dry textured fabric.  Another style, KS019 Contrast Stitch Performance Raglan T-Shirt, is made from 50% polyester with 50% Coolplus® : Coolplus® fabric is both moisture wicking and quick to dry. 

The Mantis World collection includes a range of fashionable sports-inspired urban hoodies with matching trousers, made with high quality performance fabrics in complementary styles for men, women and even for kids.

Cool fit is a high tech engineered polyester fibre designed to keep users dry and comfortable.

Skinnifit believes in looking and feeling fantastic all day, everyday. The company is also aware that urban styling and sport are inextricably linked in today's clothing world. So you'll find its range of sportswear-inspired garments look just as good on the sofa as they do on a yoga mat! Fantastically stretchy and soft, these gorgeous garments maintain their shape whilst providing the wearer with optimum comfort, says the firm.

PenCarrie probably has the widest range of health and fitness wear featuring all the top brands including Tombo Teamwear, Kustom Kit Gamegear®, Finden & Hales, Kariban Sports and Skinnifit.  Although the choice is huge, PenCarrie points out that every style featured for 2009 is stocked because it meets a particular and substantial demand. 

Health and Fitness Wear has been at the heart of UKL's broad sportswear offering ever since they began distributing the Phase One Sportswear brand.

Famed as the city that never sleeps, New York is rarely without a statement to make in fashion styling and clothing stakes.

A journey of 1000 miles starts with the first step. The same can be said for finding new customers. How successfully you take those first steps will define how many new accounts you open. If your new business approach is dull or haphazard it's not going to make you rich. By contrast, if you develop an effective technique for kicking open those doors - no matter how simple - you can work it to death and it will lead to more sales.

A passion for fashion is the up-front marketing buzz phrase used by Belgian clothing company B&C.

Beechfield's new B38 Urban Army Cap is strong on streetwise styling and imbued with upfront urban appeal.

Popularised by fashion prediction companies - urban lifestyle is an amalgamation of urban and 'street' influences such as skatewear and pop culture - diluted into high street fashion it is not surprising that trendy casual styles defined as 'urban wear' would filter it's way into the supply clothing industry.  With emphasis on youth culture, comfort and practicality these styles would often not look a miss on the high street. 

Fruit of the Loom's new Hooded Ts have transferred straight out of retail and into the imprint market in 2009. The fashion favourites are perfect for music merchandise and pre-print collections, and respond to customers' calls for a modern T-shirt design with all the street cred' of a hoodie.

Life style trends influence fashion and increasingly affect how we design and develop styles for the corporate wear market.  The colour matters as does the fabric type. Whether at work or play we want to feel comfortable and look good.

Jerzees Colours is an entire urban wear collection taking the 3 corner stone styles of T-shirt, Polo and Sweat and expanding them across a range of colours, shapes and fabrics.

What can be more urban than Hoodies? They may have got some bad press in recent times but for sheer coolness and practicality they are the thing to be in and be seen in, and they have never been more popular than in todays' urban culture.

The vast amount of products out there means that by offering something different you can make yours stand out from the rest, says distributor Lea Sportswear.

The Mantis World collection offers a choice of fashion-forward styles for men and women, in fabrics and colours that reflect the latest trends on the high street. The one item of clothing that is found in every wardrobe - the trusted T-shirt - has had a fashion make-over, with no less than six being introduced to the Mantis 2009 collection. 

Since its launch at the Printwear and Promotion show last year, Orotoro has gone from strength to strength, says the company.

The Urbanwear is a fast growing sector and is particularly relevant to the college / university market.  This is a sector which relies on styles that are fresh and fashion focussed and Prestige stocks a wide selection in this field.

PenCarrie's portfolio of over 50 brands includes many that directly target the youth market with urbanwear.  Most active in this area, says the company, are Wombat and Skinnifit with their sometimes quirky, always relaxed casualwear; plus AWDis whose Just Hoods collection (now expanded with Zoodies) is both colourful and cool.   Bags and caps are a necessary part of the urbanwear look and PenCarrie offers plenty of choice from both BagBase and Beechfield Headgear.

Urban styles and earthy colours including camo make up the exciting range of headwear products available from the Result Headwear Company.

Urban-wear is still maintaining its popularity despite negative press and it's association with "thugs". This is the sign of a good, strong trend and it's easy to see why it's so popular.

Wombat's urban range is an amalgam of raw edged, pigment dyed, vintage washed and distressed casual clothing that exudes individuality.  "This is urbanwear that makes a statement," and is ideal for independent outlets keen to create their own cult clothing range," says Andrea Charteris of PenCarrie.  She adds, "Wombat's funky styles - whether tees, polos, hoodies, sweats, rollies or combats - lend themselves to becoming must-have items. 

‘Dammit Nigel, we're three per cent down in aerospace, four per cent down in catering, and if we don't show significant penetration into Soft Fruits by next Wednesday, CJ's going to bend me over the walnut bureau and use me to sharpen his pencils.'