Fairtrade clothing has become the new battleground for Britain’s top retailers as demand for ethically certified cotton has doubled in the last 12 months.
The idea of paying farmers a fair deal  in the emerging countries, which pays farmers more, is now struggling to keep pace with the needs from  shops such as Marks & Spencer, Next, J Sainsbury and Debenhams.
The number of cotton producers that have been awarded the Fairtrade mark in the last year has increased by a third  but demand is going to outstrip supply. M&S alone will need a third of the world’s current supply to meet its targeted sales.
Tamara James, business development officer at the Fairtrade Foundation, said: “The amount of interest from the UK market means that we will need to certify more farmers.”
With the big players moving into the Eco friendly markets it may well mean that the small companies that pioneered the the way will now struggle to hold onto their suppliers.

At Acorn we have seen in the promotional market the bigger suppliers are moving forward to supply the rapidly growing demand. Student bodies and councils that we supply have increased their interest several fold.
One of the major clothing suppliers, Continental have moved very quickly, having always been an ethical manufacturer they have introduced a range which has grabbed an instant market share. The Earth Positive range of clothing is not only Faire Wear but organic cotton is used throughout the range and all the garments are low Carbon. They score maximum points in all areas.

Contact Acorn to learn more about personalising Earth Positive clothing.

The Republicans have said they were preparing to vote yes until they heard the  remarks of Speaker Nancy Pelosi who criticised the method of Republican economics, this prompted them to change their minds at the very last minute and so the World was brought to a standstill. The Markets are in melt down over the Republican pride.
In Europe we had started to put the house in order Governments had stepped in. Whilst it is right that the fat cats of the banking world have brought this on themselves it is the rest of us who suffer. First we must fix the leak and then lets hope the powers that be go after the fat cats

next year Acorn are committed to supplying Fruit of the Loom, Gildan, Continental, Jereez, Uneek, Kustom Kit, Bella Mantis as the main leisure clothing range. We will also have some of the more specialist clothing offering a wider range of Fair Trade and Organic clothingm as well as increasing our workwear range.

At this time of year manufacturers have already decided what’s new for next year. It is about this time they start to tell the trade and we can have a look at it towards the end of the year. A lot of new materials and styles will be released in Jan but often they are not available util march or April when the spring and summer starts to get people thinking about the summer. Today the promotional and event clothing is even more aligned to the fashion wear of the high street.
New winter wear was released several months ago and is already selling. The AWD hoodie which can be found on the Acorn web site is already proving to be a popular choice as a value for money hoodie available in 36 colours.
the Fair Trade and Fair wear clothing along with the organic cottons are being introduced in varying styles and colour ways as the momentum of the sector starts to grow rapidly.

Tencel is a unique natural material that is cooler than cotton 100% biodgradable and produced from Sustainable forests. The fibre is derived from wood pulp farmed on a 10 cycle. The material has a soft feel and acts as a natural whicking type material taking moisture away for the body. New garments will be introduced.

Well what a world we live in. Even the old bolwer hat brigade from Bradford are in trouble. Mind you when the Prime minister has to get his wife out as a warm up act the country must be in trouble. Next time you disagree with the PM he will most likely send his Dad around to sort you out. Just imagine what would have happened if Tony had sent his father inlaw around.

enough said !

The Ladie t shirt dept  has now been broken down to three types, crew neck, V neck and tank type tops. The range is to be expanded so you ladies have even a better choice. Remember if you can’t see what you want try our online catalogue. Just browse through and make a note of the code and we will be pleased to quote you. just link through to it   http://www.our-catalogue.co.uk/pages/catalogue/catalogue_home.asp?c=4267&s=521&sid=234224883

Last weekend saw the final round of the 2008 HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch with Solihull driver Adam Jones having raced in all ten rounds in his Seat Leon run by GR-Asia and sponsored by Air Cool Engineering, Bodywork Solihull and Acorn Printing.  After thirty races covering nearly a thousand miles Adam came away with a very respectable third place in the Independents Championship and ninth place overall with five podiums to his credit which for a small independent team is an amazing achievement.  As he prepared to leave the track Adam said “I’ve had an incredible season and am pleased to have finished in third place and would like to thank the Team and all our sponsors for their help and support.  It’s been a tough season with some very close racing and I didn’t expect to have finished as high as I have as the competition was extremely fierce”.  I would like to compete in the BTCC in 2009 and we will be developing our plans over the next few weeks with hopefully new sponsors coming on board. 

See the Uneek sweat shirts now added to the Acorn site. The Classic and the Premium are both well made quality Sweats at a great price. Both wash at 60 degrees so would make useful work sweats. See the Acorn web for more information on these great sweats.

Uneek sweat

Unbelievable !! not only do they nick $4.5 billion dollars from the UK branch hours before going under leaving no money to even pay the staff in the UK  but the Bosses in the States are due to get a $2.5 billion bonus.

Talk about laughing all the way to the bank. and they all lived happily ever after !!!