School uniforms bonanza

HIGH-STREET chains and supermarkets are fighting a school uniform price war.

Big retailers, reeling from nine months of collapsing consumer confidence, are slashing prices of pinafores and plimsolls in a bid to dominate a market worth Pounds 200million a year.

Sainsbury's has fired the opening salvo by pricing its new range at 30 per cent lower than last year's offering.

Supermarket rivals Tesco said its school uniforms were 49 per cent cheaper than last year.

An Evening Standard survey found that velcro plimsolls are now being sold for as little as Pounds 1.25, while zip-up pinafores can be bought for under Pounds 5.

Kate Ison, a spokeswoman for the British Retail Consortium said that consumer confidence was low at the moment, which was encouraging retailers to cut prices and hold sales for longer periods. She added: "Back-toschool has started very slowly even for value ranges. It's fair to say that retailers see this time of year as an opportunity to attract shoppers by carrying a large range of school-related stock."

The back-to-school market is hugely lucrative for retailers.

The latest figures show that the average parent spends more than Pounds 200 to kit each child out for the new school year. They spend around Pounds 90 on clothes, more than Pounds 50 on shoes and trainers, Pounds 26 on stationary and Pounds 34 on electronic equipment.

More than half buy school gear in supermarkets.

In an attempt to kick-start sales, Tesco - one of the five big players in the market along with Asda, Sainsbury's, Woolworths and MS - has delivered backto-school brochures to four million households in the UK.

The big retailers all said they were able to keep prices rock bottom by sourcing their backto-school ranges from suppliers in Eastern Europe and Asia.

All said their suppliers followed codes of conduct relating to working conditions and wages.

But Liz Parker, of the Labour Behind The Label organisation, said companies were not providing enough information to consumers. She added: "If prices are forced down by one retailer then it forces the others to do the same. It is a moral issue. We know that people want to buy on a more ethical basis but companies are not providing the information about where they are produced."

But family welfare groups have welcomed the drop in prices, which they believe could offset a reduction in clothing and uniform grants from local education authorities.

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