Take a Deep Dive into Ethical and Sustainable Garment Manufacturing in the UK

As a part of Fashion-Enter Ltd’s educational agenda the team offers successful CPPD seminars and Factory Uncovered tours. Groups range from secondary school pupils and university students to industry professionals; such as buyers and merchandisers, as well as groups from external industry sectors.

As an example, Fashion-Enter Ltd’s Production Director, Caroline Ash, recently welcomed two groups from the leading etailer ASOS for a factory tour and seminar. Both groups mainly consisted of Assistant Admin Buyers so Caroline geared the information and tour to cover key topics relevant to their jobs. This included essential information that the supplier needs to enable orders to go through as swiftly and efficiently as possible. Many from both groups had never visited a live factory before so this on-site insight was incredibly valuable, they also scored the experience highly with a high proportion giving it 10 out of 10 on their post-seminar feedback forms.

Caroline commented: “We had great factory seminars with two groups from ASOS, none of the group had visited a factory before so they were very excited to see a live factory in action!”

Fashion-Enter Ltd CEO Jenny Holloway added: “Against a backdrop of uncertainty; with the Ukraine / Russia war, a falling sterling, rising inflation, increased mortgage rates and a lack of general consumer confidence – the demand for garment manufacturing is certainly not going to be at its highest! However, there are always opportunities. One of the most strategic decisions that Fashion-Enter Ltd has made last year was moving towards make-to-demand and the Micro Factory. Whilst this caused great upheaval and was alien to established workforces it is now proving to be the only way forward in such a depressed garment manufacturing environment.

“It is wonderful to work with clients that are open-minded and realise that the dreadful waste made within our industry at all points of the supply chain has to stop. This is why the CPPD sessions that we hold are just so important. 

“Our factory is the only factory in the UK that has a leading status in the Fast Forward audit and is SMETA audited too. When we do the Factory Uncovered tours then we can show what ethical and sustainable really means, and show to old system V’s the system of manufacturing, thanks to collaborations with Kornit Digital and Zund, we also use Optitex for 3D avatars. 

“So come and see what we have to offer and have a deep dive into learning how garment manufacturing can be ethical and sustainable today.”

Feedback from the ASOS attendees included:

“I learnt about different methods of stitching, how each one impacts time/cost. The process from initial drawing to end product. Very informative!! Would recommend.”

“I loved the factory tour and seeing the product at all its stages and breaking it down. Looked at cost and fitting issues and how we can help improve that process.”

“The session has been very informative and given more knowledge into factory processes and how a buyer’s work effects suppliers and what I can do to improve that speed to market.”

“Great experience! Super insightful and useful / interesting to be able to see the factory and the machines.”

“Really interesting about the speed of the workers and good to see that their pay reflects this. Good to see examples of product for clearer understanding.”

“Very thorough – lots of detail and helpful tips.”

“I have learnt how I can be more efficient in my job to speed up the production process and also an in-depth breakdown of cost factors.” 

“Thank-you so much for this great and informative / insightful tour! I have never visited a factory before, this will surely help me understand more about fabrics and fits going forward.”

“It has increased my knowledge and awareness in regards to supplier communication to be clearer to keep processes on time and steady.”

Tap here to find out about our Factory Tours and Seminars