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COMPANY PROFILE
than Henbury, says Katie.
"But it hadn't really had the opportunity to find its
way in the market place. Because of the distribution
that we have within Europe, it meant that we could
offer those brands to our European distributors.
"Once we had established the company in the UK,
we were then in a position to offer the products in
Europe. We have very strong distribution in France
and Germany and similar in Finland, Iceland, Ireland,
Spain and Slovenia
"There were only a few established distributors
Henbury's managing
within each country who specialised in this kind of director, Katie
product, so for us, it was important that we worked
Stewart.
with well-established partners in each country."
Katie acknowledges that it takes a while for a brand
to get established in a new country.
"What we do is we will go out to see the
distributors - the ones that we targeted as the right
options for each country - and we will work with
them. In the UK our distributors are PenCarrie,
Ralawise and Prestige, then we have 21 distributors people do worry about how easy they are to approval."
in 12 other countries. embroider. With 14 brands in the Henbury portfolio now Katie
"We cover 85% of the UK market with those three "There tends to be a general hesitancy about does not rule out acquiring other brands in the
distributors. They are extremely loyal in that they anything that is not completely plain," she adds. future "Whatever they might be," she adds
take all of our products. There's never a question of "We put Coolplus into Finden+Hales a couple of cryptically.
them cherry picking from the range. Sometimes years ago and we have seen enormous pick-up on But what of the existing brands?
when a distributor cherry picks – and we suffer a it. In polo shirts that weren't pure sportswear, we "We have great plans for our new brands the
little bit from this in Europe you don't get the whole were the first to use it. Such a cross section of development and the direction they are going to go
look and feel of the range." people wear them because they are so easy to wear. in. Tombo and Finden+Hales are within a similar
Each of the brand managers are responsible for the They are easy to care for - easy to iron, and they are type of market but we see both clear direction and
garment design, market positioning and brand never going to lose their colour," Katie continues. opportunities for both brands. And we're very excited
development. "We have now moved that fabric base into Henbury about the World Cup.
"We have very established manufacturing bases," on a basic polo shirt. It's received a huge amount of "Tour Collection is one of our challenges. There are
says Katie. "We tend to design around fabrics. So if interest. And we have also put a slightly lighter great opportunities for 2010 and for other sporting
we want to bring a certain shape into the range, weight Coolplus into Finden+Hales." events throughout the year. Then we have the
particularly with Skinnifit, then we will put it with a With factories based in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Olympics, the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, so
factory that already makes suitable fabrics. China, Katie says that Henbury are obsessive about there are opportunities.
"You need to be aware of what's happening with corporate social responsibility. "We may also be looking at rationalising the
the retail brands but we do have slightly more "We visit all the factories that we work with. We brand," she adds. "It is a little too diverse and we
flexibility perhaps than larger (retail) brands. also have our own agents in each country and they will, perhaps, be scaling down. It's such a distinctive
"The suggestion is from the States that wicking monitor the factories. They maintain our ethical product, it almost needs to be designed every year."
fabric is going to become the minimum standard for policies. They make sure there's no child labour," she Teddy bear brand, Mumbles, is fabulous, adds Katie.
the next five years. It will be interesting to see what adds. "People love them. Every second call in the office is
happens," says Katie. "We visit the factories probably four times a year. I about Mumbles at the moment."
When it comes to design, she adds, the decoration have been visiting one factory in Bangladesh for 15 "We also have a clear vision on the direction for
potential is uppermost in their minds. years. We have a really strong relationship." Front Row. At Exeter people loved the sailing jacket.
"The trend is for lighter fabrics on the High Street Brand managers also visit the factories. We're getting great feedback."
and we have gone as light as we can. Textured "We are in quite a difficult market where you are Certified organic brand Okarma is also set to grow.
fabrics are quite difficult in our market because having to buy extremely high quality goods at a "It is more mainstream now. People are starting to
price point that is going to gain a number of ask for organic school wear and we are responding
margins," says Katie. "The advantage, of course, is to that request," says Katie.
that you are buying in bulk, but because we are She predicts that 2010 is going to a challenging
more on the fringe end of the market we need to be year. With high unemployment, anyone who supplies
quite clever at where we buy and who we buy from. workwear will continue to struggle, she reasons.
So building relationships with our factories is "What we want to try and do is pull people away
extremely important. from having to buy at premium prices for bespoke
"We don't move factories unless we have to. We products to being able to purchase from a
have already been out to visit the factories for our sustainable supply base.
new brands. We spent about 11 days out in China "It's fair to say that the whole market saw a
visiting all the plants. Obviously one of our aims is to downturn in price points during 2009. We're hoping
consolidate wherever we can." that people will buy back into quality," adds Katie.
Building a relationship with reliable manufacturers is
crucial, adds Katie.
"Because there are a limited number of factories The Henbury portfolio
that can cope with the quality we insist on," she Henbury Front Row
says. Skinnifit Skinnifit Men
"Our agents do our quality checks in line and Skinni Minni Finden+Hales
primary inspections. We are visiting factories and do Tombo Okarma
our own quality checks when we are there. All the Towel City Mumbles
Henbury's classic
fabrics are tested and sent to us on first production Tour Collection Pashimi
H100 and H121
for our approval. Some of the fabrics are tested by Splashmacs Larkwood
polo shirts. us and don't go into production without our Whytes
www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk February 2010 | 55 |
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