Supply Update

Industry update with Howard Wilder - Sales Director, Banner

Reflections on a challenging year

What a year it’s been! From the January ‘lockdown’— which lasted until April—to the return of schools, the uncertainty over curriculums and testing and bubbles and disruption to supply chains… it seems like we had one challenge after another. And in truth we did.

But thankfully, by working together as suppliers and retailers, we’ve delivered a service to parents and schools that is in many ways remarkable. From ordering early to staying open late–and a raft of ideas and initiatives in between— schoolwear retailers have shown a determination and creativity that is a credit to our industry.

For our part, the teams here at Banner worked tirelessly to overcome the most difficult challenges we’ve ever faced. The impact of COVID has varied across the world and its sometime easy to forget that while the situation here at home was improving, that wasn’t necessarily the case for our manufacturers overseas. To cap it all, who’d have predicted that the Suez Canal would be blocked, causing further disruption to global supply chains.

If we have learnt one thing from this year, it’s that keeping customers in the loop is vital and much appreciated by all. That’s why we’ve increased our communication, and why we intend to keep on doing so. As we go forward, we plan to give you as much information as possible and be as transparent as we can about availability for the year ahead.

In some ways the hardest things for us all about ‘Back to School’ this year was the uncertainty. Retailers had placed orders and though the vast majority arrived on time, some items were frustratingly stuck at sea. We at Banner had visibility of our containers on ships but couldn’t be certain when the stock would actually be delivered.

The good news is that because of everyone’s commitment, we’re now in a much better position. Slowly but surely, the world’s supply chains are improving and because we are the UK’s biggest schoolwear company we’ve been able to place our largest ever advance orders. Over the coming months we will see huge swathes of products coming into our warehouses, giving us higher availability and advance stock than in any previous winter.

I’d like to thank all our customers for the support you’ve given to Banner in 2021. It’s been one heck of year! But I’m confident that we’ve taken every measure to ensure we serve you best as we can, this year, next year and for many more thereafter.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year.