We're all dotty about Bamboo Baby!
How infuriating is it when all the shops are full of autumn clothes just as the summer holidays are starting? The good news is that our beautiful summer collection - Dotty About Bamboo - is still available online. Girls will look adorable in our Dotty trousers and Heart Vest set, and stylish in the Dotty Denim Dress, while boys look cute in denim shorts. For cooler summer evenings, team dotty or striped trousers with matching hooded tops. Stylish, yet very practical clothes for your children this summer. And a great time to get ordering so you can take advantage of our new discount scheme!
The cost of parenting!
Five News newsreader Natasha Kaplinsky is reportedly taking a £300,000 pay cut in order to spend more time with her 8-month-old son Arlo. Kaplinsky returned to work in February, with the proviso that she could skip the 7pm bulletin on Channel Five. She is now planning to make the move permanent, slashing her previous £1 million pay packet.
Take your toddler to a West End theatre!
No, we haven't lost our minds! If you live in or near London, or are planning on taking a trip to the capital, why not see if your pre-schooler enjoys the theatre? As part of Kids Week 2009 (which runs from August 14-28 and sees London's West End theatres offering free tickets for children) under 5's can see a performance of the classic book, We're All Going on a Bear Hunt at the Duchess Theatre on July 14. Children's tickets are free - parents pay £10. For more on this and Kids Week log on to www.kidsweek.co.uk
Tea or coffee?
Here's a poser for your morning coffee break... which is more environmentally friendly, tea or coffee? Find out by logging on to the Recycle Blog at www.recycle.co.uk/blog/tea-or-coffee
Bargain days out
With the summer holidays coming up, and more families holidaying in the UK, don't forget to take advantage of two for one offers from train companies. If you're in the Midlands, take advantage of discounts to the National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham, or 30% off entry to Cadbury World. If you're in Bedfordshire, two can spend the day at Whipsnade Zoo for the price of one, while there's a host of options for days out in London. And remember for most attractions, you don't start paying for your little ones until they're four... or even five... so now's a good time to go! Check out the national rail website for more details. www.nationalrail.com
Boys will be boys
If you've got a boy who is obsessed with Bob the Builder, trains and cars, you can blame it on his genes. US scientists have discovered that children as young as three to eight months - before they can associate between genders - are already attracted to 'boys' and 'girls' toys. During the tests a truck and a doll were placed inside a puppet theatre, then eye-tracking technology was used to show how long the babies focused on each object. For more log on to US study
We hope you've enjoyed our first newsletter - and remember to get ordering to take advantage of our new discount scheme!
24/06/09 - Details of our new loyalty scheme
We have just launched our new loyalty scheme. We are offering an amazing discount which increases with each order you place with us. Once you place your first order you will be sent a code enabling you to get 2.5% off your second order, then another so you can get 5% off your third order, 7.5% off your fourth, all the way up to 100%! The scheme only covers purchases of minimum £30 and up to a maximum of £100. But this still means you will be able to get £100 of free organic baby clothing! Hopefully you will think this is as great an offer as we do.
01/06/09 - Our production facility in India now have SA8000 and GOTS certification
Our factory in India have just been awarded the SA8000 certificate, valid until 31/12/09. SA8000 is based on the principles of international human rights norms as described in International Labour Organisation conventions, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It measures the performance of companies in eight key areas: child labour, forced labour, health and safety, free association and collective bargaining, discrimination, disciplinary practices, working hours and compensation. SA8000 also provides for a social accountability management system to demonstrate ongoing conformance with the standard. They have also renewed their GOTS certification valid now until 30/09/10. The aim of the standard is to define requirements to ensure organic status of textiles, from harvesting of the raw materials, through environmentally and socially responsible manufacturing up to labelling in order to provide a credible assurance to the end consumer.
26/04/09 - Bamboo Baby Production Information
Dongguan MingWei, Guangdong Province, China
Knitwear Factory
UKBB01 Factory Inspection Report – Dongguan MingWei
Inspection Date: 21/04/2009
Inspector: China 2 West Services
Introduction
There is no doubt that Dongguan MingWei is a good supplier who has always provided us with a good service and most importantly they have a good sense of responsibility. The knitwear factory is a small workshop with partner medium facilities, which specialize in all kind of knitted garments and are good at OEM products. The boss, Mr. Deng, is a young man who previously worked as Product Manager for a big Taiwanese factory before he joined Dongguan MingWei. He is one of the most patient and responsible people we have met. The factory was established in 2004. Products are mainly knitwear. All of their workers are experienced which means that they can complete goods even in tight time.
General Data
Workforce: 95
Machines
- Approx 100 x automatic looms
- 2 x hand looms
- 7 x iron machines
- 10 x sewing machines
- Apart from yarn dying and washing, everything is done at home.
- All of their cooperative factories are in the same district about 1000m away which means communication is very good.
Quality Control
15 QC are appointed to different production lines. Fabric or garments are not released to the next production step until QC has been passed. During the factory tour, we could see documentation of the fabric QC process and the main garment QC process. We were impressed by their honest work.
Summary
We believe Dongguan MingWei is the right factory for your products. They produced high quality products for your A/W 08 order and show great interest in a long term business relationship with Bamboo Baby.
Denim, jersey, blankets, socks, tights, bathrobes
A family run business; Argawal Exports is a Control Union (Skal) certified company under Organic Exchange Standard 100. They work only with raw material suppliers who are GOTS & Oeko-Tex certified. The company was founded in 1981 and is owned by the Argawal family.
FLO-Cert
FLO-CERT is the inspection and certification body for labelled Fairtrade. FLO-CERT today inspects and certifies producer organizations in more than 70 countries. In order to guarantee the credibility of the Fairtrade Certification Mark, they operate an independent, transparent and worldwide consistent certification system that follows the requirements of ISO 65, the international quality norm for certification bodies. FLO-CERT ensures that producers comply with the FLO InternationalFairtrade Standards, that traders pay the Fairtrade Premium to producers and that producers invest the benefits received through Fairtradein their development.
General Data:
Workforce: 650
Machines:
- All machines are in house - they have range of machines needed like - feed-of-arm, flat lock, overlock & interlock machines, button hole, button sew, bar tacking, elastic, zigzag embroidery, jeans button/ rivet fixing machines, steam irons with vacuum table.
- They also have specialized machines like double needle machines, computerized embroidery machine, sophisticated washing machines CAD/CAM etc.
Quality Control:
They have quality checks on virtually every stage of fabric procuring, processing & garment manufacturing; therefore they have very high quality standards. Besides a strict control of Control Union & Oeko-Tex, the factory follows many procedures so that each piece turned out is good quality:
- A three-step quality check system.
- A Pro-active quality check system.
- Online computer monitoring by ERP
- 100% in-house production – even the placement embroideries.
Use of the most advanced machines likes: double needle machines, chain stitch machines, feed of arm, CAD system, computerized embroidery etc.
20/03/09 - Our new look website has just launched!
New features:
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Download our size information and our catalogues
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Check out our BLOG!
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Wholesale customers can now forward order our future collections securely online via the wholesale section of the site
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Enhanced shipping options & gift wrap option now available
