Our Purpose

We exist to grow for the greater good. 

Those eight words sit at the heart of everything we do. They are not a slogan — they are a statement of intent, a commitment, and a responsibility. Growth, for us, is not an end in itself. It is the means by which we create genuine, lasting benefit for the people who work for us, the people who work with us, the customers who depend on us, the communities we are part of, and the planet we all share. We measure our success not only by our financial performance, but by the positive difference we make across all of these dimensions.

We are a proudly employee-owned, B Corp certified business - and both of those things matter deeply to us. Being employee-owned means that the people who build this business share in its success. Being a certified B Corp means that we balance people, planet and profit. In addition, we are held to rigorous, independent standards across our social and environmental impact. We are committed to continuous improvement, not just good intentions.

People

For Our Colleagues

We believe that a great business starts with happy, supported, and fairly-treated people. Our colleagues are not just employees - they are co-owners of this business, represented on our Trustee Board and directly sharing in our profits through our profit share scheme.

We are proud to be a Real Living Wage employer, because we believe that everyone who works here deserves to be paid a wage they can actually live on. We provide full pension contributions, death in service cover, and Paycare healthcare cover, because we take seriously our responsibility for the long-term security and wellbeing of our people. For those who face unexpected financial difficulty, we offer interest-free crisis loans - because life does not always go to plan, and we want to be there for our colleagues when it does not.

We know that wellbeing is about more than money. We provide access to mental health counselling, because we understand that looking after minds matters as much as looking after finances. We offer flexibility in working hours, enhanced holiday entitlement and a holiday bonus scheme, and enhanced paternity and maternity provision, because we believe our colleagues should be able to be present for the moments in life that matter most. We provide uniforms, tailored support, and structured training and development opportunities, because we want everyone here to grow - professionally and personally.

We listen to our colleagues through our Peoples Voice forum and our Ask Us Anything sessions, because we believe that the best ideas come from the people closest to the work, and because every colleague deserves to feel heard. Our goal, simply, is to be the happiest workplace we can be - and we measure this, benchmarking ourselves against our B Corp peer group, because happiness is not just a nice aspiration for us. It is an objective.

For Our Supply Chain

Our responsibility does not stop at our own front door. We believe that the way a business treats the people in its supply chain is just as important as the way it treats its own employees. We operate in accordance with the ETI Base Code, which means we are committed to ensuring that:

• Employment is freely chosen

• Freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining are respected

• Working conditions are safe and hygienic

• Child labour is never used

• Living wages are paid

• Working hours are not excessive

• No discrimination is practiced

• Regular employment is provided

• No harsh or inhumane treatment is ever allowed

But we go beyond the code. We are actively working to map and increase transparency across our supply chain, because you cannot address problems you cannot see. We conduct SMETA audits and internal audits, and we invest in initiatives that go beyond the audit — including operational grievance mechanisms such as Amader Kotha, which gives workers in our supply chain a safe and confidential way to raise concerns.

We are working on specific initiatives to improve the lives of workers in our supply chain, including addressing period poverty, improving access to clean drinking water, supporting fair minimum wages in Egypt, and ensuring building, fire, and electrical safety standards are met. We support Worker Participation Committees and invest in raising awareness of workers’ rights, because workers should know what they are entitled to and have the power to act on it. And we are committed to the ongoing improvement of supplier facilities, because decent working environments are not a luxury - they are a baseline.

For Our Customers

We are in business to serve our customers brilliantly. We measure our performance in product delivery - across plain, embroidery and specials - quality, and customer service, and we track overall satisfaction because we know that being the easiest business to work with does not happen by accident. It requires constant attention, honest measurement, and a genuine willingness to ask: what can we do to be better?

Our mission is to be the best supplier in the UK in our markets - in schoolwear, workwear, and healthcare. The best means being the fastest, the most reliable, and the most responsive. It means having the most efficient cost base, so we can offer great value. It means being the easiest to work with, so choosing us is never a difficult decision. And it means being the most ethical and sustainable, so that our customers can be proud of who they work with.

For Our Communities

We are part of the communities around us, and we take that seriously. We support a range of charity events through agreed sponsorships, and we have nominated Young Lives vs Cancer as our UK charity and Phulki as our overseas charity - causes we are proud to stand behind. We partner with Stockport Race Equality, and we sit on the steering group for Equal Futures Stockport, because we believe that building a fairer society is something businesses have an active role to play in. We are also on the steering group for The Real Living Wage in Greater Manchester, acting for all SMEs. We sit on the Stockport Economic Alliance, making sure that the lower paid and those not in work are represented.

We support pre-loved uniform initiatives by providing collection points, because we know that the cost of school uniform is a real pressure for many families - and that perfectly good garments should not go to waste. We have sent thousands of garments to children across the world, because children everywhere deserve to be clothed with dignity. And we celebrate the many colleague-led community initiatives that our people take forward under their own steam, because community is not just a corporate responsibility - it is something our people care about personally.

Planet

We have one planet and we intend to look after it. We measure our carbon footprint and we are actively working to reduce it - through solar PV installation at our facilities, battery storage, LED and motion-sensor lighting, an electric and hybrid vehicle fleet, and a commitment to operating without gas. We require OEKO-TEX certification from our suppliers, because the chemicals used in making garments matter - to the workers who handle them and the children who wear them. We are investing in carbon literacy across our organisation, because understanding our impact is the first step to reducing it.

We are moving towards the use of recycled and Better Cotton materials, because the way our products are made has consequences that reach far beyond our factory floors. We are transitioning to post-consumer waste polythene, because single-use plastic is a problem we intend to be part of solving, not perpetuating. We recycle waste and manage chemical disposal responsibly, and we are engaged in the Green Social Dialogue Programme in Bangladesh, working with our supply chain partners on environmental improvement at source.

We are guided by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), because we believe that the challenges facing our planet require a shared framework and a shared ambition. In particular SDG 1 No Poverty, SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth, and SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production.

How We Measure Ourselves

Good intentions are not enough. We hold ourselves to account through clear measures and honest assessment. Our B Corp accreditation is not a badge we earned once - it's a standard we must continuously meet and improve against. Beyond this, we monitor our performance in many ways:

Employees: we track employee happiness through regular surveys.
Customers: we track customer satisfaction through regular feedback and an annual survey.
Supply Chain: we undertake very regular site visits and scheduled audits.
Community: we track donations and community projects. 
Planet: we measure our carbon usage, plastic usage, waste usage and materials traceability.
Financial: we track our turnover, profit, margin and turnover per colleague.

Our Mission 

Our mission - to be the best supplier in the UK in our markets - gives us the direction. Our purpose - to grow for the greater good - gives us the reason.

Our Values

Everything we do is grounded in our three values: Trust, Care, and Be Better.

Trust means that we are honest and reliable - with our colleagues, our customers, our suppliers, and our communities. Care means that we treat every person connected to our business with genuine respect and consideration. Be Better means that we never stand still - we are always looking for ways to improve, to do more, and to have a greater positive impact.

These values are not aspirations for the future. They are descriptions of who we are today, and commitments to who we will continue to be.

Approval

Our Purpose Statement is approved by our Board of Directors and our Governing Trustees on an annual basis. Last approval: May 2026

Our Purpose, Mission and Values infographic (PDF download)