The ATMF Leads On A Major Project For Garment & Textile Workers Trust

Over the last 18-months a consortium comprising of Apparel & Textile Manufacturers Federation (ATMF) (lead), De Montfort University (DMU) with Carolyn Hardaker, Fashion-Enter Ltd (FEL) with support from Beth Davy-Day, TJ Hussein, Callum Holloway, Claire Solly, Divya Kama and Jo Bean, SP&KO Consultancy’s Katherine O’Driscoll and Alix Coombs representing Fashion Roundtable, have worked extremely hard on the Garment & Textile Workers Trust (GTWT) programme entitled: ‘Unifying the Voice for Public Procurement Contracts in the UK’.

Bearing in mind that this project commenced 18-months ago the report due to be released in November 2026 at Manchester Made & Regions is absolutely pertinent to today’s government manufacturing environment.

Intensive work has been undertaken to create an industry fit for purpose website in ‘Factories We Trust’ that gives any buyer and public procurement officer a chance to review the technical and ethical capabilities of a quality manufacturer.

The project primarily started in Leicester, was initially entitled ‘Leicester Forward’, but it was soon readily apparent that the project was a nationwide encompassing programme.

Alix Coombs, an economist has taken a deep dive into analysing the multiplier effect of public contracts being made in the UK rather than going offshore once you regard the duties payable. Again, this is perfect timing with the PM, Andy Burnham’s commitment to re-industrialisation and the award of public procurement contracts to SME’s.

The real question is what is the mechanism to enable the SME’s to be awarded the contracts? And this is where the ATMF has created a consortium of over 20 factories that will act as a bidding mechanism for the largest contracts.

Currently, a first rent tender has been submitted by the consortium for a 60,000,000 pound bid to the home office for security clothing items, and we await further instructions from home office on this most important bid for SME’s.

The meeting held with the factories on 20th October 2026 included Guest speakers Suzanne Ellingham, Director from Hyve Group and Source Fashion and independent consultant, Simon Platts.

Discussions centred on the updates which included:

16th September meeting at the Palace of Westminster with MP’s present – David Lammy and Shockat Adam. The three asks from Davide Lammy have been submitted and we await an update from his office
Manchester Made & Regions update to be held on 4th November at Manchester Hall and kindly sponsored by Source Fashion
Meeting on 19th October for trade bodies at the old Admiralty building In London
Next steps in procurement including a recently submitted bid for NHS
Confirmation Nexus to support and future applications, thank you Niall!
Exhibition space to be made available to factories in Leicester for January 2027 edition of Source Fashion
Update and feedback on In Factories We Trust website
Discussion re: China and Decree 834

More information was requested on Decree 834, please see below

Key Provisions of Decree 834

Restrictions on Information-Gathering (Article 13): The decree strictly regulates or restricts supply-chain investigations, mapping, or audits conducted within China without authorisation. This applies heavily to routine commercial activities like requesting a “bill of materials” or tracing product origins.
Key-Sector Protection: It establishes an interagency framework to monitor “key sectors” (such as rare earths, batteries, and critical technology) and implement early-warning or emergency mechanisms to safeguard supplies.
Sanctions Against Disruptive Entities: It authorises the Ministry of Commerce to investigate and penalise foreign companies or individuals that interrupt normal market practices, apply “discriminatory measures,” or cut ties with Chinese suppliers in a way that threatens China’s economic stability.

Factories commented on the severity of a lack of current orders and the importance of pushing a Public Procurement contracts over the line. Frustrations were raised regarding how slow the decision making process is and the growing pressures on their businesses.

The next meeting will be end November 2026.