The Big Interview
Bringing real-time progress back to UK shores
Changing customer expectations, global trade policy shifts, and tightening sustainability legislation have dismantled many of the practices the clothing industry once relied upon. New supply chain models are emerging. Acting editor, Benjamin Austin, sat with Avery Dennison’s VP/GM global commercial apparel, solutions group, Steve Mason, to find out how the company has looked at nearshoring for a solution.
T
here have been some major shifts in the printwear and garment industry as demand moves away from bulk purchasing and mass distribution, to sustainability and personalisation. Where once offshoring and international shipping were the solutions to supply issues, these practices are now being left behind.
Steve Mason
With EU legislators placing greater emphasis on transparency in textile manufacturing, businesses are facing heightened scrutiny over how their products are sourced and produced.
Perhaps then, purchasing products and services from abroad is no longer a viable option, especially when that brings long lead times and bulk purchases with greater risks. Instead, it might be worth looking closer to home for solutions; that is the mindset Avery Dennison followed when opening its new UK facility in Harrogate. The on-product branding, graphics and trims supplier for the apparel market opened the new site in North Yorkshire in March 2025 after acquiring local business, Thermopatch, in 2023.
The purchase regained Avery Dennison a local UK production site, a capability the company hadn’t had for around 30 years.
Avery Dennison used the acquisition to advance its nearshoring strategy and develop a facility offering end-to-end solutions for UK-based customers. Steve Mason, VP/GM global commercial apparel, solutions group, Avery Dennison, said: “We have a distribution centre in High Wycombe that would hold and distribute items. “Traditionally, we would produce transfers and ship them to the customer to apply the embellishments themselves. “In Harrogate, we wanted to provide full end-to-end solutions.
“It’s an important step because I think we now live in a world where businesses don’t want to have to manage multiple suppliers. They want to give the work to one party to get it done as quickly as possible.
Avery Dennison’s new facility in Harrogate
| 62 | February 2026
www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92
