Last month Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on climate change, placing the issue not just at the forefront of the US political debate, but also cementing its seriousness in all our minds – not that we should really need any more convincing. Let's face it, over the past few years there's been enough stark evidence of climate change to mean we should all be taking it extremely seriously by now. And it's not even as if we can say it doesn't really affect us – this summer's floods are testament to the fact that it does.

The board of directors of the Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (PIA/GATF) has joined with the Specialty Graphic Imaging Association (SGIA) and the Flexographic Technical Association (FTA) to form a central location for information on sustainable, “green” printing activities.

The Xinteractive Clothing Company has launched a new domestic product – the Hi-Viz Shopping Bag, which it says functions in the same way as a Bag For Life.

Leading garment distributor PenCarrie has appointed Tony Lock as the company’s new managing director with effect from 1 October 2007. Founding director Paul Persey, who has fulfilled the role of managing director since the launch of the company 16 years ago, becomes chairman.

Schools should make every effort to limit the cost of school uniforms or risk enforcement action, according to new advice issued by the Government last month.

M G Sportswear Ltd, the UK-based custom football clothing manufacturer, is relocating.
The new site, based in Kidderminster in Worcestershire is better equipped to meet the needs of the company and its customers, said the company.

Colour chameleon

Continental Clothing has launched new colours for its hoodies and sweaters this autumn.

The Men’s and Women’s Pullover Hooded Sweatshirts are now available in electric blue, moss green and Kelly green; while the Men’s Zip-Through Hooded Sweatshirt now comes in stereo red and charcoal grey.

Visitor numbers to this year’s National Incentive Show were up 14%, claimed organisers, with many companies using the event to launch new products.

EthicStar has introduced another new camouflage into its hooded zipper range – the Digital camouflage.

James & Nicholson’s new Workbook 2008 features a range of sports and leisure outfits, including new trend colours such as brown, wine, Irish green and ecru for over 30 products.

Flag supplier Flagpole Express recently supplied flag systems for the McLaren Mercedes Garden party, which was held prior to the British Grand Prix weekend in July.

The global reach of Society of Dyers and Colourists (SDC) vocational training courses has been extended with the addition of two new training locations in Thailand and the Hong Kong/Macau Special Administrative Regions.

Raging Bull Clothing Limited, England rugby captain Phil Vickery’s exclusive performance clothing company, has secured a clothing deal with Colt Cars Mid-West, Mitsubishi Motors UK’s Own Dealer Group.

Visitors to next year’s Promotional Marketing Exhibition are being offered the incentive of two free flights to one of six European cites: Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Madrid, Frankfurt or Nice.

BAFTA-winning company Insight News TV is to film at the Continental Clothing London offices for a documentary film about Uzbekistan for BBC News Night.

BTC activewear entered three teams in the recent Promota Celebrity Golf Clasic to raise money for SPARKS – a charity which funds pioneering medical research that has a practical, positive impact on the lives of babies and children.

Over the past two years TheMagicTouch says it has seen dramatic growth in the use of its image transfer process to decorate High-Viz garments. Having the ability to personalise such items enables target marketing that can prove very cost effective, it suggests.

Continental Clothing has revamped its website for 2008, adding several new features, including live stock figures, which are updated every 10 minutes.

Global coaster designer and manufacturer, The Katz Group, has launched its new look website, offering users more information and increased functionality in an easy-touse layout.

Westford Mill, the value promotional bag brand, has launched a new standalone website, (www.westfordmill.com), which showcases the brand’s current product collection.

Having just moved house, I’ve been making a concerted effort to recycle properly. I’ve been amazed at how much unnecessary packaging is used on almost all products, how much I throw away and the amount of waste just one person produces. Here in the UK we generate about 100m tonnes of waste from households, commerce and industry combined each year.

These days businesspeople are falling over one another to prove their green credentials. All global companies, whatever their nature, need to be seen to be tackling their greenhouse gas emissions, and paradoxically, it is the most damaging industries that are collectively making the most effort to be seen as ‘greenest’.

The customer is king right, right? Sometimes customers can be demanding, a strain on resources and difficult. Sometimes they can be a dream to deal with, to talk to and you have some fantastic relationships with customers that have been developed over long periods of time.

In our wealthy, consumerist society we have all come to expect choice. In the printwear industry this doesn’t mean a choice of three T-shirts; more like a choice of 33. But can a very wide choice actually be intimidating?

Time is running out to get your entries in for the Printwear & Promotion Excellence Awards 2008 as the extended deadline of Friday, November 30th looms. So, if you have achieved something in the last year that you really want to shout about, or you want to nominate a customer or supplier, don’t delay – log on to the website for a free entry form and get the recognition you deserve.

The British Promotional Merchandise Association (BPMA) has launched a China Trade Advisory Group to address the issues and share expertise on trading with China.

The European Commission has began a two-month review of safety controls after the US toy manufacturer Mattel had to recall Chinese made accessories for its Barbie dolls due to excess levels of lead in the paint.

Beechfield has extended its range of enhancedvisibility headwear options for the workwear market with the introduction of the B355 Mountain Cap in fluorescent yellow.

The Blue Max Group says all its products have become synonymous with a quality and reputation that can withstand the rigorous demands of the working environment, combined with stylish designs.

BTC activewear offers a comprehensive selection of Dickies’ workwear, which it says is great value, hard wearing and functional. Coveralls, trousers and the ever popular Redhawk range of warehouse clothing and tabards are all available from stock on a next day before 12 noon delivery.

Castle Clothing Ltd may be a new name to some P&P readers, but it is certainly not a new name within the workwear industry, with over 35 years’ experience supplying mainly industrial distributors nationally.

Drew Brady is part of the Ruia group, which covers the import, supply and distribution of household textiles, hosiery and other garments to retailers, wholesalers, hospitality and healthcare organisations. Formed in 1997, the Workforce and Leisurewear division provides polo shirts, sweatshirts, T-shirts and thermals, offering stock garments in a vast range of colours in the key styles at stock levels to suit any customer.

Fruit of the Loom says its Oxford Shirts are the smart new option in affordable workwear, thanks to their unique new cotton/polyester fabric base.

Henbury says its Business Wear Collection offers a totally coordinated range of clothing for both men and women, with unparalleled choice in design and colour. All the fabrics have been specially chosen to ensure durability and performance, many with fabric treatments for easy care.

Mascot Workwear showcased new and existing ranges at the A+A exhibition in Düsseldorf in September during its show, which included jumps, funky break dance and humour.

Ralawise knows the importance of businesses creating the right image and look for their employees, whilst ensuring safety needs and requirements are met with the provision of appropriate uniform, and 2007 has seen many new styles added to its already extensive range.

PenCarrie notes that more and more organisations realise the value of workwear that carries the company name and logo. As marketing manager David Abrahams remarks: “It is a great way, simply and relatively inexpensively, to create a unified appearance across a workforce; it inspires pride amongst workers; and inspires confidence in those who have dealings with them.”

Since its conception Premier has aimed to provide its customers with premium products that have an emphasis on quality, style and colour consistency. This has led to a partnership with Klopman International, Europe’s leading manufacturer of poly-cotton workwear fabrics.

Reflexite says it has seen a dramatic increase in companies embracing the idea of corporate image as 21st century consumers look for credibility from an organisation’s image, identity and duty of care.

The outerwear Uniform Collection from Regatta offers six men’s and women’s styles of waterproof jackets, three-in-one’s, fleece and softshell. The range offers outstanding protection from the elements, says Regatta, with designs and colours coordinated to offer a smart look for the great outdoors.

Russell Collection

When it comes to shirt styles for the workplace it is not a case of one size (or style) fits all, says Russell Europe. There are a number of considerations to take into account: work environment, is it formal or informal for instance, contemporary or traditional? Then there are the requirements of the job itself, eg active versus non-active, and then of course there is size range, sleeve length and fabric.

Uniform, corporatewear and workwear have become an increasingly theme at multi-brand distributor UK Leisurewear.

Put a group of small business owners together at a function. Then introduce someone who says: “Hello I’m a health and safety inspector.” You know what’s going to happen, don’t you? They’ll all quietly drift away, carefully covering their nametags so the inspector doesn’t know their business names.

You have thousands of design, artwork, and machine files ‘floating’ around your company. Your employees spend hours searching for them. Does this sound familiar? For many embroiderers it will, says embroidery solutions and software provider Wilcom. But design files are valuable – they should be easy to find, easy to distribute and they need to be protected like other company assets.

This year two new categories – best digital inkjet print and best dye sublimation – have been added to the Garment Decoration Awards in a bid to cover all aspects of the industry and raise the profile of the awards.

American Apparel has launched its new PQ412 Piqué Tennis Shirt to the sportswear market.

This short-sleeve collared shirt features textured Piqué fabric and a blind bottom hem and sleeves.

Medallion is now the official sports brand of the Blue Max Group and the entire range will feature in the 2008 Blue Max brochure available from November ’07.

New to the BTC activewear stable for 2007 is the Gamegear range of teamwear garments. This collection of performance clothing is manufactured from the finest fabrics to exacting technical specifications and offers unbeatable value to the team wear sector, says BTC.

Arguably one of the most exciting advances in sportswear is the inclusion of performance fabrics in the teamwear arena, says Finden+Hales. Its Aridus range of T-shirts, polos, tracksuits and shorts has been designed to reduce skin temperature and improve airflow by allowing the transfer of moisture away from the skin to the outside of the garment from where it can freely evaporate.

Gamegear says it has quickly established itself as the brand of choice for those seeking unbranded team wear.

Offering performance and value, this range of team wear is designed for a diverse range of sports. The 2008 collection will feature a raft of new styles and is almost double the size of the existing range to appeal to a wider number of sporting disciplines.

The Henbury range lends itself well to many sporting activities, and a popular choice for sports such as sailing is the Classic Henbury Pique Polo Shirt. In 100% cotton it is comfortable as well as durable, says Henbury. “Team it with the navy chino shorts (H605), which are Teflon coated, and you are off to a flying start,” it says.

James & Nicholson’s new Workbook 2008 contains a wide range of sports and leisure outfits with new trend colours such as brown, wine, Irish green or ecru available for more than 30 products.

J&A (International) Ltd is a large UK manufacturer of heat-seal transfers for the sports market. Sales director Adrian Apletree says that as more and more sports are turning to performance polyesters he is seeing a greater demand for transfers that are intrinsically able to counteract the adverse effects of sublimation dyes that are used to colour the polyester fabrics.

With sportswear influencing the high street and fashion getting relaxed, this season Mantis World presents a complete sports-inspired collection with the innovative high tech Stretch 360° fabrics.

Many dedicated sportswear brands feature in PenCarrie’s catalogue. Some specialise in particular sports such as golf or cricket: names such as Ashworth, Callaway Golf, Glenmuir and Finden + Hales come to mind. Tombo, one of few brands to provide complete football kit for adults and for children, is much in demand at this time of year, for school teams and for football clubs from pub to county level.

Quadra says its new Stadia range of sports bags has been generating a lot of attention this year and “for obvious reasons”: the bags’ high specification, modern styling, and wealth of practical features would grace any sports club or locker room, it claims.

With such a wide array of sports being played at local club level nowadays, the potential business available to printers and embroiderers is evergrowing, says Ralawise. It offers a comprehensive range of garments from a variety of top brands to cater for all sportswear requirements.

Spall sports, manufacturer of bespoke sportswear, has launched some new ranges with its 2007/08 brochure. Spall is a UK-based manufacturer of bespoke sportswear tailor made to suit its customers’ needs. Its ranges include football, rugby, hockey, cricket, athletics, basketball and netball.

With the incentive of keeping ourselves in shape, plus the vital idea of gaining both fun and enjoyment, team sports are now flourishing, says Team Colours.

According to Teamwear – sportswear provider for teams individuals and racing teams – this year’s main craze has been for fabrics and colours.
Teamwear has also established that durability and strength are both very important traits, which it says have made their GT and Touring shirts bestsellers.

It’s all kicking off in the world of teamwear. With the football and rugby seasons well underway, ensuring that teams are well kitted out now is allimportant. Tombo, the sports and teamwear specialist, combines performance fabrics with coordinated colours to make “the perfect team garment formula”.

UK Leisurewear exclusive Phase One Performance delivers technical training kit manufactured using the latest sports fabrics, ensuring ease of care, comfort and the ability to dress all teams from the under 11’s through to the seniors and coaches in the same kit. The Phase One range is used by both professional and amateur teams across the UK.

In the promotional merchandise arena, branded clothing is a popular choice, be it workplace uniforms, one-off T-shirts, hats, ties or children’s schoolwear.

As I hope you are all aware by now, the aim of PROMOTA is to raise the profile of the promotional merchandise industry on a regional, national and international level, and attracting new members is pivotal to this success.

Valerie Anne Leisure Ltd (VAL) was established in 1993 and combines 75 years’ experience in transfer manufacture for the promotional merchandise industry. As a productive PROMOTA member, VAL continues to grow, becoming stronger and wiser thanks to its traditional family values.

There are hundreds, possibly thousands, of items that can be branded and made into promotional merchandise. Ask any marketing manager about the types of samples they get sent on spec and the chances are they’ll have a list as long as your arm. The British Promotional Merchandise Association (BPMA) lists over 600 products and services relating to promotional goods in the UK alone.

Specialists in promotional clothing are seen to be experts in their field by their customers, yet often fail to exploit other promotional merchandise opportunities and increase the impact of the marketing. However, this needn’t be the case as with almost all promotional products it’s very easy to use suppliers that handle all the printing and deliver direct to clients under plain cover.

Leading supplier Listawood offers a variety of promotional products suitable for all campaigns. Through its many specialist ranges and product knowledge, Listawood says it strives to provide its customers with a service of the highest standard.

The BG131 Camouflage Ripper Wallet is the latest recruit to the BagBase Accessories range of colourful, affordable, easy to decorate promotional products.

Roland DG a pioneer of advanced digital technologies, has launched the Metaza MPX-80, the company’s most precise impact engraver to date and a fast, easy-to-use personalisation device for engravers, jewellery stores and corporate gift producers.

Senator Pens has extended its popular @tract range of promotional pens with the addition of the @tract Clear.
The @tract Clear is a high quality twist mechanism ballpen available in orange, red, blue, smokey grey and clear, with a glossy translucent barrel and retractable metal security clip.

Treasure Trove Holdings is primarily engaged in the business of distributing toys to European retailers. However it exhibited at the National Incentive Show last month to launch some innovative products suitable for branding.

In addition to a wide range of digital transfer systems and consumables for garment decoration, Xpres also offers a number of solutions for businesses wishing to supply promotional products.

The Metaza system is a metal printer/engraver that provides a unique opportunity for producing a range of jewellery, gifts and treasured keepsakes.

“They are more expensive, lower quality and limited in range compared with the traditional alternative. I'd like to buy them but I cannot at the moment. I have to wait until the cost difference has gone and the quality is as good."
Believe it or not, that is the preconception still held by many buyers of environmentally friendly products.

A warm trade wind blew through the palms, their wayward murmur broken only by the steady creak of the rope sling that rocked me gently between their up stretched arms. A thick haze of heat danced up from the sand, and through it I began to see the outline of an approaching woman. Closer now, her grass skirt joined in with the music of the trees, and I could see she had a large pair of coconuts.