Do schools receive an income from exclusive uniform suppliers

[Nononoandno]

I work in purchasing and not related to schools but in the purchasing world when a exclusive relationship is set up then often contracts are set up so that the supplier pays an income based on percentage of orders put their way.... this got me thinking are our secondary schools receiving an income from its uniform suppliers that have the monopoly???? 2000 children at a school x £200 per year uniform is £400k per year of orders going to way of an exclusive supplier!!

We all have the right to ask our children’s school this question as the suppliers would build into their uniform pricing any percentage of income that they are paying to the school to have exclusively!

Am not sure but likely as in the local uniform shop they sell blazers for around 8 different high schools. The majority appear to be made by same company just different colour. There seems to be around £30 difference between the cheapest and most expensive and I can't work out why when they look the same and made from same materials.

Rocket
Yes the prices do vary quite a bit, this could also be based on economy of volume etc, I’m not sure about freedom of information with regarded to asking schools this information and if schools would willingly provide details of income? I’m sure someone in here will know xx

No. I worked for a national school wear company for many years and the reason for exclusivity is because it enables us to buy in the stock in bulk in advance which then makes it a lot cheaper, especially bespoke colours (e.g, when they have a different colour in the neckline) or knitwear.
In return we would do either

1.) agree a lower sale price of items for parents. Say knitwear is normally £12 we would agree to sell it for £11 because we’ve saved money by buying it in bulk

2.) The school can earn a bit of commission from online sales which they can put towards equipment for the school e.g. sports kits etc

3.) We may offer free items to staff such as school jackets, sports bags or kits for PE teachers, or aprons for dinner staff

4.) We may offer free uniform for pupil premium kids meaning the money some schools would have designated towards this can then be spent on learning resources instead

There seems to be around £30 difference between the cheapest and most expensive and I can't work out why when they look the same and made from same materials

To answer this... they will not be the same. Outwardly you may not notice but the more expensive ones will be better quality, better stitching, customised linings etc.
Also some colours are more expensive to produce as they’re not as common and therefore may be manufactured specifically for that school.
You wouldn’t believe how many different shades of navy or grey there are.
Ultimately the school is responsible for picking the uniform even when they’re informed of a dramatic difference in price to have “midnight blue” as opposed to “navy blue”. Very subtle colour difference but midnight can be £20 more per blazer because of the colour.

It’s usually the PTA and school board who choose the school items, so if you’re annoyed by the price then direct your complaints towards them rather than the shop or supplier

Hope that answers your query

Parents at ds school weren't happy with the pricing & quality of the uniform sold through school, they took the logos & a list of uniform items to another company who did logo clothing in a local market, got everything copied without the school's permission, this company now sells more uniform than the school supplies. Use parent power & vote with your feet to another supplier.

Our local uniform shops often sponsors the school for different events.
I'm sure they get the principals a nice bottle at Christmas.
The owners of the store and staff are local.
It works well.

No I am certainly not complaining, mine is the cheapest blazer! Dds sch have done their best to keep it at the lower end.

@IfYouWannaComeBack

So Schools get commission on sales? Is this standard practice? Sounds like a massive conflict on interest to me.

One of my child's schools has recently changed their uniforms to be much more exclusive in terms of supplier shortly after the arrival of the new head (think going from standard supermarket school trousers to ones with coloured piping from a specific supplier at twice the price). If this is because of receiving commission I, and many parents, will be mightily pissed off. Time to do some digging.

If we buy through Tesco our school gets money back. Not sure how it works though.

@Hopoindown31 essentially yes. Suppliers do not vary their prices generally, maybe items can be negotiated a £1 or so lower but usually they are a set price unless the school has requested bespoke colours or fabrics which then have to be priced according to manufacturing costs.
But if we’re selling black blazers at £29.99 then that’s the price we sell them at whether you’re a state school in hull or a private school in the south-east, it’s the school who alter the prices.
Also we may sell to the school shops and they could be marking it up to whatever price they want and splitting the difference with the school so they both turn a profit. It’s common practice.
Exclusivity of provider is because it is cheaper for them to buy the stock, the price the school choose to pass it on to the parents at is their decision alone.
Legally we can’t vary the prices that much without breaching trading standard laws

@TheJellyBabyMadeMeDoIt see above.
Also Tesco brand school wear is shockingly bad and awful quality, they use the cheapest fabrics and are manufactured in countries with questionable labour practices. Tesco also only offer something like 5p-10p commission per item sold to the school.

@Nat6999 I hope the school do not get wind of this because that supplier is breaking the law. The school logo design will be have a copyright and unless he’s been given express permission to reproduce it then it’s classed as manufacturing and profiteering from counterfeit goods and could even result in a prison term.

I think nearly eveyone in our local infant school is in tesco or sainsburys supermarket clothes.... it cant be that awful.

I have no idea if they do or not but if it's a state school, I can be certain they're not using it for luxuries.. Maybe the money goes to keeping enough teachers employed, or fix the boiler / roof / windows. I get that some schools seem to make uniform unnecessarily expensive or unique but please don't imagine that the senior staff are somehow creaming off a profit and living the high life. Budgets are at or beyond breaking point and that isn't the fault of schools.

I had assumed they do, along with the companies that do school photos etc.

@FlyingBanana it’s not awful but it’s cheap and you get the quality you pay for at the end of the day. I’d say at least 50% of my new customers used to come from previously Tesco using schools. Polls and shirts etc are fine, sweatshirts, sweat-cardigans and knitwear were notorious for fading and pilling

Polos, not polls

We preferred supermarket thin cardis to the weird sweatshirt cardi they had to buy from the uniform shop for juniors! School uniform stuff didn't seem that great...

And £6 for 2 thin cardis could be replaced each year/as they grew. £14 for a sweatshirt cardi that faded was a pain.