Shirtworks, a leading supplier of printed t-shirts and workwear reports growth in ethical clothing and organic t-shirt printing demand contrary to reported trends

OXFORD, ENGLAND, October 02, 2010 (Press-News.org) Shirtworks, one of the UK's leading suppliers of customised clothing and promotional products, has reported a steady growth in demand for organic cotton t-shirt printing and the use of ethical clothing for customised garments, contrary to recent reports of a shrinking ethical clothing sector in the national press. The t-shirt printing company, based in Oxford, has been expanding its ethical clothing range every month over recent years due to its popularity. For more information visit http://www.shirtworks.co.uk or call 0800 0725334.

"I was amazed to read the recent article in the Independent which reported stagnant sales figures in the ethical clothing market, as we're seeing the opposite here," said Arron Harnden, MD of Shirtworks. "Our FairTrade t-shirt ranges are a very popular choice for t-shirt printing customers, so much so that we're adding new garments all the time. In fact, we've just added the Tencel range of workwear shirts that are made from fibre extracted from eucalyptus wood pulp. It's 100% biodegradable and only comes from sustainable forests farmed on 10 year growing cycles. The organic cotton t-shirts are also very popular. It might be that the high street is struggling with eco-friendly fashion, but for us, the promotional clothing market loves the chance to make an ethical choice."

When asked why Shirtworks is seeing rising sales in ethically produced promotional clothing, Arron said; "Well, I think there are three factors that have influenced our results. One is that we provide a lot of customised t-shirts for university clubs and societies. Students tend to be more clued up about ethical clothing and sustainability, and are more likely to be attracted to those ranges. The second factor is that we actively promote our organic cotton and FairTrade t-shirts and don't pass on any extra costs to the customers. Thirdly, we're the only promotional clothing supplier in Europe to have earned full accreditation from the Soil Association, so that attracts more ethically minded buyers too. I really do think that people want to make ethical choices when buying clothes," Arron added. "And it's our responsibility as retailers to make that as easy and financially attractive as possible, something we take very seriously at Shirtworks."

About Shirtworks

Shirtworks was founded in 1985 and is now a leading direct supplier of promotional clothing, corporate gifts and promotional merchandise with the capacity to print orders of any size. At the Shirtworks promotional clothing workshop, there are screenprinting machines capable of printing logos and designs up to 10 ink colours, and machines which can embroider logos up to 7 thread colours. Shirtworks also holds large stocks of the most popular garments, including products from Screenstars, Jerzees, Hanes, Kustom Kit, Beechfield and Result.

Shirtworks' promotional clothing clients range from local schools, companies and clubs to large national plcs, charities and promotional companies. Shirtworks has always been committed to providing good quality promotional products at competitive prices combined with a friendly and helpful service. Even though Shirtworks supplies promotional clothing and branded promotional products throughout the UK and abroad, the company is very proud of its relationship with local customers, particularly with the many university colleges in Oxford.