Tesco recently announced they would be launching a schoolwear embroidery service enabling them to provide school-specific uniform. This move has prompted Asda to admit they will be following Tesco’s success closely to determine whether they, too, should venture beyond their current greywear.

BagBase has developed a range of fashionable and funky bag designs to meet the growing demand for more street-styled promotional clothing.

Bags such as the BG14 Retro Shoulder Bag and BG16 Retro Flight Bag hark back to iconic styles from the 60s and 70s, with ‘old-school’ styling that appeals directly to discriminating young urbanites.

The Beechfield B10b Junior Original 5 Panel Cap is the quintessential modern school cap and demand for this classic style is greater than ever, reports the brand. According to Roger McHugh, Beechfield’s managing director, there are four main reasons for the product’s enduring appeal with school wear suppliers.

Beezer has been successfully producing schoolwear for over two decades and 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 latest Blue Max brochure boasts a bigger and better schoolwear collection than ever.

Every garment in the collection, along with every size and colour permutation, is stored in the 2 million cubic feet warehouse in Trowbridge, waiting for customers to pick up the phone, email or fax and order for next day delivery.

BTC activewear has an increased range of Russell garments for 2010 including the 599B Jerzees Schoolgear children’s polo shirt, available in ages three to 12 and in seven key school colours.

The sleeves and collar have a double ripple effect giving the garment a well-dressed look. Made from 65% polyester and 35% cotton this is an extra hardwearing polo that is ideal for schoolwear.

An ever-increasing variety of sporting opportunity available to young people not only leads to healthier and happier kids, but also opens up opportunities for teamwear branding in both traditional sports and the less familiar.

School kids like casual and Front Row’s leisurewear range is a perfect option. As with our adult collection the kids garments have the same detailing and use the same fabrics making it a breeze to kit out kids from age five up. For the older school goers the men’s rugby shirts start from size S and the ladies from XS, so there is a garment to fit everyone.  

Fruit of the Loom has introduced the new Girls Valueweight T and Kids Long Sleeve Valueweight T in response to the growing demand for a broader range of schoolwear options.

They fill important product niches, illustrating the company’s determination to provide a collection of good value, casual schoolwear.

Schoolwear plays an important part in the marketplace today and Henbury has a number of products that fulfil this demand.

The Henbury children’s and adults tipped polo shirt H450 Adult and H459 Kids, are perfect examples. These have had great success as the contrast tipping on the collar and cuffs gives any school or club the opportunity to co-ordinate colours for their sports teams or for out of school clubs and societies.

Hoodies are increasingly becoming part of schoolwear, perhaps inevitably when they are so important as a popular, practical and comfortable clothing item.

They are not yet much in evidence for mainstream uniform but they are massively popular for school sports and for trips and year group mementos.

Essex based promotional clothing supplier, I.S. Enterprises, offers a large range of children’s schoolwear suitable for print and embroidery decoration. With garments available from top brands such as Result, Gildan and Fruit of the Loom, I.S. Enterprises is able to provide decorators with indoor and outdoor garments suitable for a multitude of pursuits.

PenCarrie’s schoolwear collection features only quality brands such as Fruit of the Loom, Jerzees Schoolgear, Result, Regatta, Kustom Kit Gamegear, Tombo Teamwear and Finden+Hales.

All the core items of T shirts, polos, sweats, fleeces, jackets and teamwear offered by the brands are available year-on-year.

Looking at 2010, it’s shaping up to be another fantastic year for schoolwear with old favourites still topping the sales here at Prestige Leisure UK.

For an excellent basic valueweight T shirt we recommend the Fruit of the Loom SS28B. This 100% cotton Belcoro yarn gives a softer, supple feel giving decorators a cleaner printing surface to work with. The rib crew neck made from cotton and Lycra adds to the SS28B’s attributes, reducing stretching. The neck is also taped for extra strength. Sizes and colours are extensive.

The current schoolwear collection from PromoQC forms a small but precise range of school essentials at competitive and affordable prices. This is to ensure you and your client receive the best value for money possible.

As all our garments in the range are label free with just size and material content labels, thus widening the opportunity for you as the 'client' to have your own brand options.

Quadra, the specialist supplier of corporate and promotional carrying solutions, has launched the new QD74 Universal Holdall, which the brand is recommending as the perfect ‘carry it all’ bag for school.

Schoolwear has always been a highly competitive sector for our industry, with in excess of 25,000 schools and over 8.1 million pupils in the UK to cater for.

Ralawise are pleased to offer schoolwear from a range of brands that use technologies to ensure uniforms will maintain their smart look throughout the year. 

Comfort, durability and performance are key issues in jacket design, and with this in mind, we have ensured that Result Junior and Youth jackets are not only fun and easy to wear but can also withstand the most vigorous child play. Children can enjoy wearing Result jackets with designs in keeping with their school and leisure time activities.

Regatta is having an exciting year, with the launch of lots of new products for 2010 and the consolidation of its existing ranges.

Schoolwear continues to be an important area for Regatta with continued investment in expanding the range with new junior versions of popular adult styles.

Russell’s Jerzees Schoolgear continues to tick all the boxes, with particular emphasis on choice and lifetime value.

An awful lot is demanded of school clothing and, as a market leader, Jerzees Schoolgear prides itself in delivering across all the areas that we know are key to parents, schools and children.

With so many schools preferring to source their uniform from a local supplier, there has never been a better time to review the schoolwear selection available from UKL.

Jerzees Schoolgear is the dedicated schoolwear brand from Russell Europe. The core range include polo’s, sweatshirts, cardigans, sweaters, outdoor fleeces and jackets. Their 875B reversible jacket with funky high visibility stripes on both sides remains hugely popular.  

Around this time last year I gazed into my school-specific crystal ball and wrote a column about the trends expected to emerge in schoolwear for the 12 months ahead. This year, however, as I adopted my Gypsy Rose Lee pose, all I could see was a haze of blue…

It was another action packed affair, with some new boys and girls as well as all the regular crowd. Katz Dancewear, Stabilo and Sensport made their debut. A return of Grays International and POD Shoes made the total 43 companies and more than 50 brands.

Q - How are schoolwear buying habits changing?

A - Increasingly we are seeing parents opt to buy uniform at the last minute

Q - What is prompting this change?

A - Like almost every other buying decision at the moment it seems to be prompted by the current economic climate

Hoodies are increasingly becoming part of schoolwear, perhaps inevitably when they are so important as a popular, practical and comfortable clothing item

They are not yet much in evidence for general mainstream uniform but they are massively popular for school sports and for trip and year group mementos.

Beezer have been successfully producing schoolwear for more than 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 latest Blue Max brochure boasts an even bigger and better school wear collection.

For Back to School 2010, the Ziggys shirt collection has been extended with a range specifically designed for girls. It is available in both a short and long-sleeved format in a choice of white or light blue and features a slightly fitted shape for a more flattering fit.

Finden+Hales know the importance of encouraging kids to get involved with teams. Schools are now, on average, linked to seven different sports clubs including football, dance, athletics and rugby, and secondary schools offer up to 21 different sporting activities as part of the curriculum.

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

Fruit of the Loom's Schoolwear collection has evolved over the years as the company has developed and expanded its product offering to provide an extensive modern school uniform solution. What has remained consistent, however, is the garments' durability and lifetime value.

Sweatshirts still remain a firm favourite for any school wishing to create a uniform in the UK and this is why Gildan have endeavoured to create a comprehensive youth offering.

The 18000B youth crewneck sweatshirt is available in 14 colours: white, navy, gold, forest green, black, red, royal, light blue, light pink, purple, kiwi, maroon, ash and sport grey.

Schoolwear figures prominently in the marketplace today and Henbury has a number of products to meet the demand. The Henbury children's and adults tipped polo shirt are perfect examples.

Gustav Daiber's Club 'n' School Now Collection - a range of trendy team wear - can be mixed and matched according to the occasion.

The collection ranges from trendy caps to fashionable tops and casual jackets.

I.S. Enterprises offers a large range of schoolwear suitable for print and embroidery decoration. With garments available from top brands such as Result, Gildan and Fruit of the Loom, I.S. Enterprises is able to provide decorators with indoor and outdoor garments suitable for a multitude of pursuits.

Prestige Leisure have a wide range of products available to customers who service the schoolwear market.

Key products decorators should be presenting in their schoolwear ranges include Fruit of the Loom's SS28B Kids' Valueweight Tee which is 100% cotton, 165gsm (colours) and 160gsm (white).

Jerzees Schoolgear continues to tick all the boxes with particular emphasis on choice and lifetime value.

An awful lot is demanded of school clothing and, as a market leader, Jerzees Schooglear prides itself in delivering across all the areas that we know are key to parents, schools - and children - alike.

School uniform is all about creating a smart, positive image in the public domain as well as giving children a sense of pride, according to Andrea Charteris, PenCarrie's customer services manager.

We have a range of schoolwear that can compete with the best of them. QC1.3 has the same winning formula as the 220GSM  QC1.1 polo shirt.

All the main features that made the adults polo a success are carried down to the QC1.3 children‘s polo shirt. which comes in nine must have schoolwear colours.

Quadra's School Essentials collection comprises a targeted range of products that covers all the core school bag requirements.

The QD17 Gymsac is water-resistant yet fully printable. Reinforced corners feature metal eyelets for additional strength and guaranteed long-term performance. The QD17 has a 7-litre capacity and is available in 10 colours.

Regatta's reputation for superior garments at excellent value does not stop at their adult ranges.

New from November 2009 is the TRA652 Kids Uproar softshell. Regatta's first kids' softshell for the school uniform market provides a sporty, stylish alternative. Made from a resilient Regatta Softshell fabric with water-repellent finish, reflective trim and a printed name label, this jacket is ready for the rough and tumble of the playground.

When it comes to school uniform, quality, durability and style are at the top of the checklist. Ralawise are pleased to offer schoolwear from a range of brands that use technologies to ensure uniforms will maintain their smart look throughout the year. 

Result's dedicated Junior and Youth range of high-quality jackets combines both functional and fashion elements for two to 16-year-olds.

Children can enjoy wearing RESULT jackets with designs in keeping with their school and leisure time activities.

Putting together a child's sports kit can be a bit of a minefield. You want professional, but you don't want pricey. You want style, but you don't want fuss. You want durability, but you don't want hard-to-wash.

Core business for many garments decorators is the school uniform market and UKL has many brands to feed their need.

With many schools preferring to source uniform from a local supplier, there has never been a better time to review the schoolwear selection available from UKL.

Let's face it, not everyone's a natural sportsman and not all of us have glowing memories of school sporting triumphs - leading the football team to regional victories, hurdling our way into the trophy cabinet and not dropping our egg off our spoon. 

A strange thing happens to you when you become a parent. From the moment that baby first opens its eyes and looks at you or curls its tiny hand around your finger you feel something shift inside you. From that moment on there is nothing you would not do, no length to which you would not go to keep that child safe. Your own personal security will forever more come second. Apart from that occasional moment when they hit puberty perhaps...

Last week I had one of those days. You know the ones I mean. My drive into work reduced to a crawl thanks to seemingly unnecessary roadworks, deliveries delayed for no apparent reason and a queue so long in the sandwich shop at lunchtime you would have been convinced they were giving away gold bars. For the first time, however, none of this bothered me. No, I haven't converted to Buddhism but I have recently discovered that when it comes to sloooooooow nothing quite compares to the European Union.

This year, an Early Day Motion (EDM 409) was tabled by Lindsay Hoyle MP, calling for VAT on all school uniform to be reduced to a zero-rating.