Case Study

Principality Building Society

First Corporate Clothing has been supplying The Principality Building Society with uniform since 2010 after securing the business through competitive tender.

The beginning...

In 2011 we injected new life into the range, retaining a strong brand identity and then managed a full refresh of the uniform across 53 branches.

We began the process of a designing a completely new look for the branches when the Principality made changes to their brand identity in 2016.

The brief was to design a range that reflects the market position of Wales largest building society with a modern, comfortable, easy care range of clothing that worked for ‘real people’.

We also had the challenge of incorporating new brand colours into the range whilst not diluting the strong identity that had been built up in the preceding years and familiar to its customer base.

Design...

Using our in house design team we presented a series of Computer Aided Design concepts.
Principality Building Society prides itself on being a ‘local’ society and felt it important to work with a company that could ensure the manufacture and supply of their uniforms would remain in the UK.
Working with established UK fabric manufacturers the uniform was not only going to undergo a transformation in style and use of colour but in the use of new bespoke dyed fabrics - not just relying on test reports we put the new fabric through its paces by using our own team to wearer trial before presenting them for consideration. The range was designed to be manufactured in our own South Wales factory giving the Society the benefit of manageable sized top up orders post roll out.

Sizing...

It felt important that everyone within the Society had a say in choosing styles they preferred to wear especially as the proposal included for the first time an addition of a dress, as well as styles chosen that reflect the size range required of 6- 28 for ladies and 28 – 50 for men. All special measures outside our standard size range were made in our Design and sampling department.
Our sample room made garments for Principality staff to trial and choose within the branches and following feedback and consultation we made some small adjustments to a couple of the collections pieces - demonstrating the true worth of a wearer trial.
A road show was held to showcase the final decision of garments at the Annual General Meeting from which feed back was overwhelmingly positive.
Over a six week period in early 2017 our experienced sizing teams visited fifty three branches within Wales and the borders so staff were able to try on and select their sizes and styles of garments they felt best suited them, as well as allowing us to capture special measure and maternity requirements.

Production...

The sizing set was made in our own UK factory and was representative of the final fit and quality of the garments that would be rolled out.

During this time behind the scenes the bespoke fabrics were milled in readiness for manufacture and production space booked to coincide with the order collation.

The roll out of all orders was completed on schedule in May for the launch on the 05th June 2017.

The Final Result...

First Corporate hold an agreed amount of dedicated stock in support of the fast turnaround of future orders.

Regular discussions and monthly reporting will ensure that the Principality Building Society will continue to receive the high level of service that lead to an award of contract in 2017.

If you are interested in uniform for your business, do not hesitate to contact us.

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Danske Bank wanted a uniform solution that reflected their modern and professional brand image, and maintained
comfort and practicality for day-to-day wear, whilst still making a strong, positive first impression for customers.

They needed a partner who could offer a fresh perspective while managing the rollout across multiple branches with precision and care.

Chris Mitchell