Buy Local: How to Choose the Best Clothing Manufacturers UK Has to Offer

Looking for high-quality clothing manufacturers in the UK? Here’s why more and more businesses are choosing to buy British.

The UK is renowned for its stylish fashion garments, exceptional quality fabric, and creative fashion clothing designs. These days, more and more designers and fabric specialists choose to use local clothing manufacturers; they are not sourcing from overseas.

There are two reasons: fashion clothing manufacturers in the UK offer exceptional products. It’s also much more sustainable to work with UK suppliers.

To start with, many fashion clothing manufacturers around the world don’t use sustainable practices – they don’t ensure their workers have safe, healthy working conditions and don’t pay them a livable wage.

It’s also important to consider how sustainably we manufacture, print, and deliver clothing. In the UK, factories take every process very seriously, but in other countries, they often overlook being sustainable.

It's a fact: the apparel industry is huge and extremely competitive. As a small company, there’s no way you can compete with a major brand. But you can learn some of the tricks of the trade in the garment industry. 

If you’re a little business looking to outsource the production team for your fashion clothing products, we have compiled a list of reasons why you should choose to buy local:

Benefits of Choosing a UK Clothing Manufacturer

Buying UK goods is not as expensive as you may think. There are many reasons to choose a UK clothing manufacturer. 

They offer:

• A more sustainable fashion clothing manufacturing process and printing methods.
• Better conditions and wages for garment workers.
• Cheaper delivery – no customs costs. You’re also saving on greenhouse gas emissions.
• Faster delivery, as you don’t need to have your product shipped from a great distance. 
• Good quality materials and production for local fabric and fashion clothing manufacturing.

To find out more about the benefits of shopping locally, read our guide, Shop Local & Help Small Businesses Thrive.

Need a Manufacturer in the UK?

As a smaller business, you must decide whether you wish to produce your own clothing or would prefer to source readymade items from a supplier. If you’re a creative designer, the answer is obvious: you want to produce your own product from scratch and sell it.

Say you wish to sell units, for example, sportswear, you may decide to order readymade sportswear fabric items from a selection of different clothing brands. If you have an established little business, you may already know what your customer wants, what sells and what doesn’t. You know your market, and you probably have a list of regular, reliable suppliers who deliver products to you on time.

Many little business owners have a good idea regarding the benefits and disadvantages of using the services of UK clothing manufacturers instead of manufacturing the items themselves.

 the services of UK clothing manufacturers instead of making the items themselves.

Pros and Cons of Using Local Clothing Manufacturers

If you’re going to start a company, it’s time to take a look at the benefits and disadvantages of using one clothing manufacturer UK:

Benefits:

• You can specify exactly what you want. Over time, as a regular customer who works closely with the manufacturer, you will get exactly what you ask for, and this will make your clients happy.
• With a regular supplier, you can start to create your own brand and identity.
• Once you have created a customer base, you're likely to make a decent profit.

Disadvantages:

• You can’t produce exactly what you want for your audience – you have to purchase what is available.
• You may need to purchase a bulk order. This may be expensive, especially if the clothing doesn’t sell very well.
• There’s a lot more risk involved in outsourcing to a supplier. You need to be sure that they will deliver the units on time. Are their products high quality? Is the sizing up to scratch?

11 Questions to Ask Before Choosing Clothing Manufacturing Services

You can either order readymade items from the manufacturer or design and custom-make the garments. Perhaps a manufacturer is assisting you with fabric sourcing, pattern grading, or design cutting. If this is the case, be sure to ask these questions first:

1.     Can the UK Garment Manufacturer Create the Garments You Want?

You must choose a specialist in the type of clothes you are selling. It’s no good choosing a manufacturer of household accessories for a high-end clothes brand. Check out previous or current clients to see what type of custom clothing the manufacturer specialises in. 

2.     Is the Manufacturer Sustainable? 

If your focus is on being environmentally conscious, you should ensure that the methods of manufacturing and printing garments are sustainable. Ask what Fabric Certifications are available for the fabric used, plus query the amount of energy and water used to manufacture and print. 

3.     Where is the Garment Manufacturer Located?

We’ve already discussed using the UK’s suppliers. However, there are some questions you need to ask them. Enquire exactly where the manufacturer is located in the United Kingdom, to get an idea of the distance from your premises. You want travel costs for delivery to be as low as possible.

If you use international clothing manufacturers, be aware that this will cost you more, due to customs and delivery.

Another important point: You have easy access to UK clothing manufacturers. Visit their factories to watch them work and see how they treat their staff. And don’t forget: locally made brands are always a good selling point.

4.   How Much Do the Services Cost? 

A less sustainable overseas clothing manufacturer often offers more inexpensive services than local ones. You should be aware that if you order from a UK supplier, you can charge more than you can if your products are produced in China, for example. 

5.   Where is the Garment Being Produced? 

It’s a sad fact: international garment workers often don’t have healthy working conditions. Factories around the world also produce fast fashion garments (i.e inexpensive, bad quality clothing) in bulk. Ensure you consider all these points before deciding which manufacturer to choose. 

6.   What is the Minimum Order for Manufacturing? 

It’s important to ask what your minimum clothing manufacturing order is before you embark on clothing manufacturing, i.e. how much you need to purchase when you order readymade or custom-made clothing. This way, you can ensure that you can afford to work with the particular clothing manufacturer. Consider how many items you want, and then discuss this with the manufacturer. You don’t want to end up with products that are ready but unsold.

At maake we have no minimums, and you can order from as little as a 20x20cm sampling too!

7.   Do UK Manufacturers Provide Samples? 

It’s a good idea to request sampling so you can see exactly what the garment looks like when it’s made up. You need to be able to consider the quality control of the fabric and the product, as well as how each stitch is sewn. You also need to consider sizing.

Although you may need to pay for a sample, this will be worth your while. 

At maake, we offer our customers a Sample Book that features all the fabrics we offer, so that customers can get a good idea of what the fabric will look like when it’s been printed on.

8.What Are the Costs of Production & Shipping?

Enquire exactly what all the production costs are before you commit to working with a specific manufacturer. You don’t want to end up with hidden production costs that you were unaware of, such as shipping, delivery, customs, etc. If there will be additional fees, request these upfront.

9.   What Size is the Manufacturer? 

Does the clothing manufacturer have a decent supply chain? And does this particular supplier have the capacity to produce the amount of product you need? Will its production be high-quality designer clothing? 

10. How Long Will it Take to Deliver Your Clothing Order?

Be specific: ask how long it will take them to produce and deliver the products to you. You need to know this so that you can be aware of when you will receive the products to ensure you can sell them in good time.

11. Ask for Testimonials From Other Brands 

Nothing works better than by word of mouth. So enquire what businesses they have used previously, and ask about every service they offer, their products’ quality, etc. 

One of the Best UK Clothing Brands

At maake, we pride ourselves on our reputation as one of the best in the fabric industry. And there’s a good reason for this. We focus on what is important for little businesses because we are a little enterprise ourselves.

• We are extremely conscious of sustainability. In fact, every product we make is manufactured sustainably.
• maake only buys local. We support UK businesses in every aspect of the work we do.
• Our North London factory uses locally manufactured fabric that has been produced in the most environmentally friendly way possible.
• The company prints on fabric sustainably, using as little water and energy as it can.
• The readymade clothing and home accessories we produce at maakeHome are all made in Britain and sustainable.

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