We asked Preston’s school uniform shop owners about what deals they have to help families afford school uniform during the cost of living and how they are keeping their customers happy. We also spoke to a mother from Lancashire about her views on the prices and quality of school uniforms.
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00:00 Do you think uniform prices are too high for families during the cost of living crisis?
00:13 I think if you've got a few kids at school then prices are going to be a little bit expensive
00:17 but we've started doing a service where it's called a lay-by where they can put it aside
00:21 at the beginning of the holidays and they can pay a little bit, some vats throughout
00:25 the six week period and then they can take it so we can do a little bit by helping parents
00:30 out.
00:31 Do you think the government should be doing anything to help parents during this time?
00:37 By law they've got rid of the branded stuff so there are still low-gold products but a
00:42 lot more schools are a bit more relaxed in terms of the type of clothing they can wear
00:47 so it's not all branded and it's not all low-gold, generally only your jumper and your blazer
00:52 is low-gold or bits of PE kit but not everything is low-gold for schools so you can actually
00:56 go to your supermarkets and buy some bits instead of coming to uniform suppliers.
01:01 Do you have any plain school uniforms, like no logo ones, you sell them?
01:05 Yeah, so we do plain polos, plain shirts, plain pants, we even do plain jumpers if needed.
01:11 Some things are ordered but some things we carry but it just depends what they need.
01:16 What would you say puts you in a better stance to other shops in Preston?
01:20 We carry a lot more stuff, we deal with a lot more suppliers so we can be competitive
01:24 on pricing and that's pretty much it, yeah.
01:29 So with the cost of living crisis and uniforms being expensive, how have you helped families,
01:33 which ways have you helped?
01:35 We work it out before the season starts and people are really very happy with our prices
01:42 because we are giving, if somebody spends £150 we're giving free blazers and people
01:50 are quite happy with that and on top of that if you compare our itemised price with other
01:56 suppliers we are dealing with the branded stuff only and our itemised price are very
02:02 reasonable and we never compromise with the quality, that's the best part.
02:07 And if you see on the social media people giving really really nice remarks.
02:13 Do you think the government should be helping with families who may be struggling with the
02:17 prices of school uniforms?
02:18 Yeah, yeah, yeah, they should, they should, yeah, they should.
02:22 How do you think probably would be the best way?
02:24 Do you think they would help?
02:26 The best way I think even people are talking here they should provide some vouchers or
02:32 some other help that way they can at least, because everybody's, the price has gone really
02:38 high so yeah we are trying our level best to give the best service.
02:46 How do you think the government should be helping parents who are struggling?
02:50 They should be giving some sort of grant for the children.
02:55 And as a moving self do you prefer going to local shops or do you prefer to think that
03:05 supermarkets are a better option?
03:07 Supermarket.
03:08 Yeah?
03:09 Yeah.
03:10 Would you think that the quality is better there or is it the price?
03:13 Prices.
03:14 Yeah?
03:15 - That's the best, yeah? - Yeah.