Solving the School Uniform Headache: A Smarter Strategy for MATs

In today’s complex and accountability-driven education sector, multi-academy trusts (MATs) are expected to do more with less delivering excellence across multiple schools while improving equity, wellbeing, and outcomes. Achieving this takes more than strong leadership; it takes the right partners.

Strategic partnerships between MATs and their suppliers particularly in high-impact areas like schoolwear can create far reaching benefits for pupils, parents, and leadership teams alike. From compliance with government guidance to delivering
meaningful student experiences, trusted suppliers can support MATs in achieving their strategic, financial, and pastoral goals.

At Schoolwear Solutions, we understand these pressures deeply. With decades of experience supporting schools and trusts, we go far beyond uniform provision. We act as a strategic ally providing cost-effective, ethical, and student-focused solutions that strengthen your MAT’s brand, values, and outcomes.

Bridging the Gatsby Gap: Giving MATs a Competitive Advantage

Delivering on the Gatsby Benchmarks remains a top priority and a significant challenge for many multi-academy trusts. Benchmarks 5 and 6, which focus on encounters with employers and experiences of workplaces, are especially difficult to embed consistently across multiple academies.

According to the Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC):
“Benchmark 6 experiences of workplaces is the hardest for schools and colleges to deliver.”

This is where a strategic partnership with Schoolwear Solutions adds exceptional value. We embed employability support into our service model – not as an optional add-on, but as part of our core offer to MATs.

Here’s how:
· Retail and logistics work placements in our high street shops
· Mock interviews, business mentoring, and customer service skill development
· Enterprise competitions and real-life business projects
· Exposure to sustainable and ethical business practices within our supply
chain

These experiences are tailored, safe, and rooted in real business operations. For MAT leaders navigating limited budgets and high expectations, we offer an easy way to meet careers guidance obligations without stretching internal resources.

This approach also directly supports the government’s careers strategy and levelling up agenda, while preparing pupils for life beyond the classroom.

And with Ofsted’s Education Inspection Framework placing increasing emphasis on “meaningful encounters with the world of work,” MATs who can demonstrate strong delivery of Gatsby Benchmarks particularly Benchmark 6 position themselves more favourably under inspection.

Mental Wellbeing and the Discipline of Belonging Uniform has proven benefits for mental health and school climate. Research shows that:
· 68% of pupils feel uniform helps them “fit in”
· 46% believe it reduces bullying (Trutex, 2017)

A well-fitting, comfortable, and accessible uniform enhances student self-esteem, concentration, and behaviour critical ingredients for thriving learners.

Through our appointment-based service model, we ensure 1:1 fittings for every student, removing anxiety and giving students pride in how they look. Over the last year alone, we supported more than 20,000 students with personalised fittings in under 40 minutes.

Strategic Partnerships That Drive Educational Value

The best MAT-supplier partnerships are rooted in shared values not just transactions. Our approach ensures MATs benefit from:
· Transparent procurement aligned with government tendering guidelines
· Consistent quality across all academies with trust-wide service options
· Support for Pupil Premium strategies, second-hand uniform access, and
ethical sourcing
· A unified identity that reinforces your ethos, improves student conduct, and
enhances Ofsted perceptions

When your suppliers act with your strategy in mind, the partnership becomes an extension of your leadership.

Levelling Up Through Practical, Affordable Solutions

The UK government’s Levelling Up agenda calls for more inclusive and equitable educational experiences. Schoolwear plays a surprisingly powerful role in this:
· We offer interest-free payment plans, helping families spread uniform costs
· All garments are durable and ethically made, reducing long-term spend
· Pre-loved services allow parents to access quality uniform at reduced or no
cost

Uniform should be a bridge to belonging not a barrier to education. Our services remove hidden inequalities and promote dignity for every student.

A Strategic Supplier, Not Just a Shop

With hundreds of years of collective experience, our team from shop staff to regional leads understands education.

Scott Glover and Ollie Buchanan, our regional managers, regularly support MATs with strategic planning, policy alignment, and implementation.

We offer:
· Direct-to-school delivery
· Online ordering with bundle discounts
· Pop-up shops at key transition times
· Help navigating compliance and stakeholder communication

We also openly acknowledge that we may not always win the business and that’s okay. Strategic partnerships are built on trust, transparency, and shared goals.

Long-Term Impact Starts With Who You Choose to Work With

As MATs grow in size and responsibility, the difference between a supplier and a strategic partner becomes clear. The former sells you a product. The latter helps you shape futures.

At Schoolwear Solutions, we don’t just sell uniforms. We support schools, parents, and pupils with purpose. We help MATs level up, fulfil Gatsby benchmarks, meet ethical goals, and ensure every child has a positive, supported experience of school
life.

Let’s Talk

We’d love to show you how we can ease the pressure and support your trust’s goals:
Scott Glover: Scott.Glover@newplansolutions.co.uk
Ollie Buchanan: Oliver.Buchanan@newplansolutions.co.uk
www.schoolwearsolutions.com