Laura Turner talks Back to School readiness with Glenn Leech, Banner’s CEO.

 

Laura Turner: How was Back to School in 2018?

Glenn Leech: We delivered our best ever year for service. This was particularly pleasing as we had taken on a lot of feedback from colleagues and customers regarding how we could improve and sustain high levels of service throughout the entire Back to School period.

As a result, we offered extended hours and weekend deliveries. Plus, we maintained our commitment to next day delivery. This is a credit to our dedicated teams and their approach to flexible working. We also invested in over £18m of stock and held nearly 4 million garments at our peak; achieving 97.7% average stock availability. So, we were pleased with our performance, but no sooner had Back to School finished than we were planning for 2019.

LT: What challenges do you face as a supplier during peak?

GL: Our service mission is to deliver right first time for our customers throughout the year. But, in particular, during Back to School. This requires extensive planning as we invoice more than £1m in just one day at the start of June and every single order has to be right.

Getting it right starts with having the right stock in place. This is why we hold more stock than any other supplier. Next, we have to pick the right stock from our 13,000 SKUs. We also have to pick it quickly enough to fulfil all next day delivery orders. This is quite a challenge given our particularly late 5pm cut off time from mid-August until the end of August.

Equally, we have to manage the increasing demand for embroidery. This year we have increased our in-house embroidery capacity by 120,000 pieces. This means we can now embroider 250,000 pieces on-site in Trowbridge.

LT: How are you overcoming any challenges?

GL: The key is having the right people and investing in the equipment that they use to get the job done. We are very proud of the capability, dedication and commitment of all Banner colleagues. We are investing heavily in their engagement and retention. Ultimately, there is no substitute for experience in the schoolwear industry.

Additionally, we have made further significant investments in our warehouses in Trowbridge, increasing the number of hanging garments that we can hold by over 100,000 to 600,000 in total; plus 4 million boxed garments.

Our systems also ensure that our customer services team and our field sales team have the information they need at their fingertips to answer customers’ questions. This is crucial, as we know that customers want honest, accurate and timely information regarding their orders.

In summary, delivering outstanding service means everything to the team at Banner and it’s a real team effort to ensure that we do.

LT: What are you doing to improve service and the value you deliver to customers?

GL: As part of our 2019 BTS free overseas blazer embroidery offer, we introduced a delivery guarantee. We are guaranteeing delivery within +/- 7 working days of a customer’s delivery date or we give them a discount up to 10% of the value of the order. The good news for Banner and our customers is that deliveries are going to plan and we are confident that c400,000 blazers will be delivered on time – phew!

We also extend our order cut off time to 5pm from mid-August for next day deliveries. Plus, we will deliver over the bank holiday weekend at the end of August at no extra cost.

Equally, we pride ourselves in offering the best, most dynamic marketing in the schoolwear industry comprising free customised presentation packs to help customers win new schools, high-quality marketing collateral including schoolwear and sportswear sales brochures, lifestyle and product imagery that is available to download as well as Point of Sale material.

In addition, we are investing in bringing new products to market to help customers grow their businesses. In 2019 we launched APTUS Essentials, a new, competitively priced, entry-level sportswear range, and we supported this launch with a number of highly attractive sales incentives for retailers.

 

 

LT: What’s been the schoolwear market’s reaction to the launch of APTUS Essentials for Back to School?

GL: We unveiled the range at The Schoolwear Show last October and the reaction from customers has been phenomenal. It’s got off to a fantastic start and we are delighted with the strength of orders received to date. Everyone loved the “Sportswear for All” concept; the colours; the modern designs of the garments; the fact that it suits all ages, sizes and body types; and that it is priced competitively.

All 10 garments in the APTUS Essentials range can mix and match with the premium APTUS Performance range; thus creating a whole new co-ordinated look since they share the same colour palette. This means that we have a stock supported offer to suit all budgets. We are really excited about the opportunity to help our customers grow their sportswear sales.

LT: How did your partnership with the charity Mermaids UK influence the development of APTUS Essentials?

GL: Inclusion is really important to us. That, and ensuring that all children feel comfortable and confident in their uniform and PE kit. As part of the APTUS Essentials range development, Emma Robertson – our head of design – and her team have been working with Mermaids UK since 2017, a charity that supports children and young people who are gender diverse.

During our research project, parents and children who are supported by the charity gave invaluable feedback on how educational sportswear could be improved to encourage students to become more involved with sport at school.

For instance, a key finding was the need for sports kit that fits well. This was deemed more important than the garments being split into gender. It led us to remove gender in the Essentials product names and launch a genderless range of sportswear that works for everyone.

LT: You recently bought a number of schoolwear retailers. How is this changing Banner?

GL: We bought three specialist schoolwear retailers in 2018. They are now being run as one business led by Peter Monkhouse and sit separately to the Banner wholesale business.

The acquisitions have given us a better understanding of the challenges involved in running a retail business. In turn, this is helping us improve the service of our wholesale business. They have also made Banner financially stronger, enabling continued investment in our wholesale business. For example, bringing new product to market and increasing our stock holding for all our retail customers.

LT: What’s Banner’s approach to ethical trading and sustainability?

GL: At Banner we have taken a leading stance on ethical trading for some time. For over 12 years we have been members of Sedex. Sedex sets globally recognised standards in areas such as working conditions, human rights and health and safety standards, and is regularly audited.

We also have a very secure and sustainable supply chain, working with only leading manufacturers of high standard schoolwear and sportswear. All of Banner’s 34 supplier factories are Sedex members and are fully compliant with the strict ethical sourcing regulations set in relation to the above areas.

Sustainability is also an integral part of our overall strategy. We have a responsibility to reduce the impact of our business and supply chain on the natural environment and the communities in which we operate. We are currently consulting with our customers, suppliers and colleagues on potential changes to both our products and supply chain and will be implementing a number of ambitious plans in due course.

LT: What new developments can we expect to see from Banner in 2020?

GL: Right now, our focus is very much on delivering great service to our customers during 2019 Back to School. We are also working on a number of exciting plans for 2020, which we plan to reveal at The Schoolwear Show in October.