Monday 14th August, 2006
ASDA LAUNCHES SHOP ‘EM TO STOP ‘EM CAMPAIGN
Schools Told ‘Must Try Harder’ When it Comes to Uniforms
ASDA is encouraging parents across the country to ‘shop’ their local school, if they are told where they must buy their school uniform from.
The Shop ‘em to Stop ‘em campaign petitions, which go onto George counters across the country today (14 August 2006), provide the opportunity for parents to give details, anonymously if they wish, of schools that dictate where they must buy uniforms from.
The petitions will then be handed to the Office of Fair Trading* which has recently written to 10,000 schools across the country.
The study follows complaints from parents that they are being bullied into buying school uniforms that are over priced and are poor quality from ‘preferred outfitters’.
“You don’t need a GCSE in maths to see that something doesn’t quite add up,” says Angela Spindler, George Global’s managing director.
“Customers have always told us that they think it’s unfair that in some cases they are being forced to pay over the odds, by the school their kids go to, for school uniforms. It’s something that we’ve been campaigning to put a stop to for some time.
"We are appealing for any parent who thinks that it’s not on, to come to ASDA and sign the Shop ‘em and Stop ‘em campaign today,” added Angela.
The school uniform market is worth £450 million, according to the OFT.
A quick search on the internet revealed that a black school blazer available from George that sells for £10 was £22 from one of the ‘preferred’ school outfitters ASDA sells more school uniforms than anyone else.
Last year alone customers bought 2.5m trousers, over half a million shirts and 2.5m skirts. Prices start at just 95p for a white shirt, a pair of grey trousers or skirt costs just £1.95 meaning that you can get a school outfit for an incredible £2.90.
Parents wishing to sign the petition should visit their nearest ASDA, ASDA Living or George store.
Notes for Editors
School wear images and price lists are available on request as are copies of the petition.
* OFT begins study into school uniforms
On 5
th July 2006, the OFT started a fact-finding study into the school uniforms market, which is estimated to be worth around £450m per year.
Almost all state school pupils in the UK are required to wear a uniform of some description, with around half of all UK schools enforcing a strictly specified uniform. Uniform codes are generally the responsibility of a school's board of governors. State schools are currently free to:
- appoint a manufacturer to produce school wear which the schools sell direct to parents
- appoint retailers to source and sell school wear, or
- inform parents of the general requirements of a uniform which they may purchase anywhere.
The OFT has received complaints from parents regarding high prices and poor quality at school nominated outlets, as well as from retailers claiming that the market is foreclosed to them. The OFT is interested in the interaction of government and markets within this area.
As part of the survey, the OFT has written to nearly 10,000 state schools in the UK to find out whether their uniforms policy allows choice on where to purchase the uniform. It will ascertain how many require parents to purchase uniforms from either a retailer designated by the school or the school itself rather than from school uniform retailers generally. It will also assess whether such arrangements are more prevalent in any particular type of school (eg. primary/secondary, single sex/co-ed), whether they have a detrimental effect on poorer families, and whether they offer any benefits to schools.
John Fingleton, Chief Executive of the OFT said:
'This study will allow the OFT to see whether exclusive contracts between schools and retailers have an adverse effect on the prices paid by parents, as well as the quality and value of school uniforms.'
