Safety and comfort first 

We don’t stray away from the essential make-up of the classic chef jacket for good reason. All our jackets are double breasted to protect against heat, and can be quickly and easily removed in the event of an emergency, whether they’re fastened by velcro, studs, buttons, or are slip on. 

That doesn’t mean there’s a one size fits all when it comes to our chef uniform jackets. We have styles for men and women, short and long sleeved. And while all our garments are designed with comfort and durability in mind, our Coolmax t-shirt offers that little bit extra in making all that stirring, chopping and frying a breeze. 

You don’t need to go elsewhere for footwear either. We have shoes that will help your team stay on their toes for a long shift, with options without laces meaning less chances of tripping.

Classic or contemporary

Chef jackets are white for reasons relating to food hygiene standards, but as long as your kitchen is maintaining those standards, there’s no reason not to try other colours. 

The same goes for the classic chequered chef trousers. They’ll be no doubt as to who’s the chef, but maybe your team would feel happier in something plainer. Either way, our trouser options are roomy and made or sturdy material to offer good air flow and protect against scolding splashes. 

Adding an apron?

More chefs are now opting to wear aprons over the top of their jackets as an added layer of protection and to shield against spills and spatters. We have all shapes and sizes available, so if you don’t see what you’re looking for on our product page, just let us know and we can let you know of  all your options.

Tying it all together 

Put the finishing garnish to your chef uniform staples with some colour coordinating final touches. With elasticated skull caps and tie-back vandanas, your team can keep any flyaway hair out the way and look the part, especially when paired with a matching, none-crease chef scarf. 

Want to make a status statement? Traditionally, the taller the hat, the more senior the chef. Many restaurants have moved away from this visible hierarchy in the kitchen, but if you’d like to put a spotlight on your head-chef, we have the tall hats or toque blanche for them. 

Ready to order? 

We’re on standybye as soon as you are. We take the important elements of your chef uniform and add your personality to it, so your team can focus on representing your business in safety and comfort. 

If you’re looking for something off the menu, let us know, as we have a wide range of garments, all ready to receive the custom-embroidery treatment and the approval of your chefs.

Attention to detail

You know how all the little things count, from the clean glass in the bar to the toiletry selection? Well guess what? The cohesion of your hotel staff’s uniform is not going to escape the notice of your guests either. 

That means coordinating everyone across the whole operation, from front of house to groundskeeper and chef to kitchen porter. Does it mean they need to match garments and shades across the board? Of course not. 

You could have different colours and styles which still work together, and your logo to bring the teams together under the same brand. 

Pinpoint your theme

We’re not talking nautical or futuristic, unless you run a novelty guest house. Establish the basics of whether you’re traditional and contemporary, and use this as the foundations on which to build up hotel uniforms for your entire workforce. If your bar staff are in waistcoats and ties, then your waiting staff will look a little at odds with them in polo shirts. 

Don’t presume that your team need to be formal to make guests feel at home. As long as you set expectations and align the uniforms across all areas and it’s in keeping with your hotel, you can’t go too far wrong. 

Don’t shy away from mixing colours

Sticking your brand colours is a safe bet, but you can experiment with accent colours which compliment the main shade, especially with the opportunity to contrast and mix up ensembles. For example, you can choose from a plain tunic or one with an alternate trim or contrasting neckline. Similarly you can team a navy blue shirt with a matching apron and tie for a cool, classy look that perfectly suits your style, or add a pop of colour in the details that makes a statement with your uniforms. Perhaps you match the colour of your groundskeeper’s gilet with your front of house team’s waistcoat. 

Just because you can choose any colour, doesn’t mean you should go overboard. Try and stick to two or three to avoid dazzling your guests. 

Stay ahead with stock

The hospitality industry has had to face a number of challenges in recent years, and staffing shortages can leave establishments on the back foot. Consider whether you might need to get short term help in, and if you have the right garments in to get them on the job quickly. 

With a strong supply network and in-house team of designers, we can turnaround your chosen uniform with your custom-embroidered logo in a very short space of time, so you can maintain standards even in difficult times.

See our Hotel Uniforms range here.

It’s not always about the food – getting your cafe staff uniform right is important too!

Ok, so the food is probably at the top of the list in terms of how you’re hoping to bowl over your customers, but are your customers even going to get that far if your team are doing the rounds in spattered t-shirts?

Don’t overlook the finer details. Even if you only have an on-brand staff apron, that will at leastgive your team the distinction over another customer, and will protect their own clothes. With our help, these can be perfectly matched to your business, with an embroidered logo and your preferred colours.

Dressing up or dressing down?

It’s not uncommon to see staff “at ease” in their working environment on a quite day, checking their phone or chatting to colleagues or friends who have stopped by. 

Other establishments will have staff standing to attention at all times so as to maintain the level of standards people may have queued a long time to experience.

Within our range you’ll find cafe uniform garments to suit both ends of this spectrum and everything in between. 

And if you don’t see what you’re looking for, let us know and we’ll look to source it. With access to a large supply chain, and an in-house design team, you can expect a quick turnaround on your uniforms, with your approval before we get going on your creations.

Your house style

Just because you can have pretty well any garment in any colour, doesn’t mean you should. Sure, if you make a point to deliberately mis-match teapots with different coloured lids, then an eclectic t-shirt and apron get-up might suit your cafe down to the ground. Maybe you even get your staff to where odd socks (just putting it out there).

You can pare back or ramp up certain elements of your uniform to suit your cafe, but it’s best not to go to an extreme. A bright orange bib apron over a black poplin shirt could work well in a colourful cafe, but switch in an understated neutral waist apron and your staff may look like they’ve wandered in from nondescript coffee house chain. 

Change it up

Giving your cafe an overhaul? Give your cafe staff uniform a wardrobe update too. We can even get started on the designs and over-all look for your cafe staff uniforms based on a mood (or Pinterest) board, to give you advanced sight of how your team will look in their new environment. 

You can give us the specifics or simply explain what style you’d like to go for, and we’ll help you get there, with embroidered logos, custom colours and the right garment combo. 

Just remember if there are cats involved to maybe go for something with long sleeves….

Individualism vs. Full uniform – which is for you?

With barista bib aprons, polo shirts, t-shirts and more all waiting to be stamped with your brand, the question you might want to ask yourself is how far do you want to go with your uniform? Coffee shops, by their very nature, are a home from home; a place where people go to relax, read or chat while enjoying their brew of choice.

In which case, you might want to consider allowing your coffee shop staff to where their own clothes, and tie it all together with an apron. With limitless colour options and custom embroidery, you can be sure this look will be anything but ordinary, but will give your customers the relaxed vibe they came for, and make your staff feel more at home too.

Take a look at the different options of a full bib apron, which is best suited for this half-uniform half-own-clothes blend. A good tee is hard to come by, and you don’t want your team ruining their own clothes in the line of coffee-making duties!

Do you want your coffee shop uniform to look traditional or contemporary?

The craft of a barista is long-established, so you might want to look at the typical aprons that come with the milk-steaming territory. Then again, maybe you don’t – and you want coffee-shop uniforms that bring something fresh to the counter, like your Biscoff latte.

Even something as subtle as the dungaree style clips on the barista apron with it’s cross back style can be a statement piece, and the favoured block contrast of a branded polo shirt under a different shade apron is always a classic combo, for good reason. Just like an americano, these things never go out of style – even if you do flirt briefly with a long black.

What lengths are you willing to go to?

Space can be tight behind a coffee shop counter, and you don’t want your coffee shop staff to be hindered as they pivot from coffee machine to card machine during the 8.30am rush. Think about the length of your apron, and whether you’d like adjustable straps.

Or, you could go one better and give your team ultimate flexibility with the 2-in-1 apron. Is it a bib, or waist apron? The wearer decides, but either way, it has handy pockets.

Get your name out there with custom embroidery

Of course, you’ll likely want your roasted fairtrade Columbian bean to take centre stage, and ensure your mugs are insta-snappable. But make your name stand out, and allow your talented, friendly and hard-working team to wear your badge of honour on their coffee-shop uniforms.

Take full advantage of our custom embroidery service, where we’ll mock up your designs so you can get a flavour of what to expect, before we get to work on your perfect coffee shop uniform.

What’s a good standard for restaurant staff uniforms? 

Let’s start with a broader question – what’s the standard set up for any restaurant? A table, plate couple of glass options and a knife and fork? Even that’s been turned on its head as the hospitality industry chases daring dining concepts to give foodies an instagrammable dining experience.

That said, a classic option is a long or short sleeved shirt, which can be dressed up or down, is a great pairing for a bib apron, and is airy so your team don’t get hot and flustered on that unexpectedly busy Friday lunchtime. 

Giving your restaurant staff uniform a unique flavour

Even the classic options are far from standard, as we can embroider your choice of restaurant staff uniform with your logo and colours. If you are looking a for something a little more “out there” as a starting point, we’ve got your back. Or, more specifically, we’ve got the shirt on your staff’s back. 

Our suppliers have a vast array of options, so if you don’t see the glow in the dark-t-shirt for your dark dining culinary adventure, just let us know, and we’ll get it sorted. The world of uniforms is your butter-and-herb-baked oyster. 

Your restaurant staffing set up

If your chefs are burrowed away in a closed kitchen, you might be less inclined to worry about the style of their overalls than if it’s an open prep space, visible to your customers. 

Also, if you have it in your mind that you want waiting staff in a light colour, but their remit extends to the kitchen where there will be sauce and suds flying around, a spattered top is not going to give a good impression. 

In that case, it would be better to have them in a dark colour that’s not going to show up a bit of tomato sauce. If your restaurant staff are collecting plates from a serving hatch, you more likely to get away with a pristine white shirt. 

The unsung heros of the hospitality trade – the apron

Give your restaurant staff uniforms the pocket space and stain-shielding capabilities of the not-so-humble apron. Having these on standby can allow your staff a quick refresh, for those times when a parent dashing after a wayward toddler, accidentally knocks a full plate of spaghetti into them.

Our hard-wearing aprons can take a pretty punishing lunchtime shift in their stride, and because we can embroider your logo rather than print, it’ll still come out strong after regular washing.  

Ready to get started on your restaurant staff uniform design? 

Our in-house design team can piece together exactly what you’re looking for, so you can visualise the final outcome before we get started customising your garments to fit your team, and your restaurant.

Choose Bar Staff Uniform that suits your setting

A crisp shirt will look as out of place in a laid-back micro-brewery as a hoody would look behind a cocktail bar. There’s a lot of attention to detail that goes into creating the right setting for punters, and the same thought should be put into your bar staff’s uniforms. 

Beyond style, our custom embroidery can give you many options, whether you want to shout out your brand from the back of a t-shirt, or put a simple understated stamp on a bib apron.

Does the uniform measure up to your bar staffs’ environment?

It’s no good if your staff look the part but are uncomfortable. Is your bar so cool your staff are going to get chills sitting in a short sleeve shirt by a drafty entrance? Or do they regularly work up a sweat dashing from one end of the bar to the other on a busy night or while shaking up some cocktail magic? 

With almost endless embroidery options, your team can look on brand and keep their cool so as to enjoy their shift in comfort.

The extra garnishes on your bar staff’s uniforms

Pens, pads, strainers and bottle openers – these useful little tools need to be on the go and find a home somewhere on your bar staff’s person. That’s where our range of waist and bib aprons with roomy pockets come in handy.

If you want to up the style stakes on your uniform further, our range of waistcoats and clip on ties in customisable shades and logo options will have your team looking sharp and in keeping with your establishment.

Where to start on your bar staff’s uniforms

When it comes to uniform options for your bar staff, there isn’t much they can’t wear. This can make choosing the perfect combo for your team seem like a mammoth task, but it doesn’t need to be.

Start with the look and feel of your establishment, then ask your team what items they would be comfortable in. Feel free to mix things up in a more relaxed place, giving your employees the option to choose between a polo and a t-shirt, for example, or a bib or waist apron, while keeping the colours and custom embroidery the same. 

If you’re looking for a more uniform, er, uniform, why not scope out other watering holes to see what they wear? We’re always happy to work with your requirements to piece together the perfect style for your bar staff, and our expansive supply chain means we can find you almost type of garment. 

There are certainly too many to list on our website, so if you don’t see what you’re looking for, just let us know. Nothing we do is off the shelf when it comes to a uniform for your bar staff.

Once you’ve given us an idea, our in-house design team can mock-up the finished product before putting your order in to make sure it hits the bullseye.

Start shopping now for your Bar Staff Uniforms.

Choose A Carer Uniform that suits your setting

We have uniforms for Carers, or cleaning staff in a care home. If you are working in a care home or doing home visits we have the right uniform solutions for you. For carers that are out doing visits often they require warmer clothing, for trips out we have a range of hi-vis vests that are sometimes required, and for care homes our range of comfortable tunics is always popular.

What uniform do you need as a carer?

We recommend starting by taking a look at our tunic & tabard range, which includes a wide range of colours, styles and sizes to suit any setting. For a more casual setting often a polo shirt with logo embroidery is a good choice, and for cooler weather we have an array of warm fleeces and body warmers that can also be customised.

Its important for staff to feel comfortable for what is often challenging work, and its always essential to look professional – which is why our personalisation options are so great for carers.

For a general overview of popular Care Uniforms click here, its a curated product list that acts as a great introduction to our range.

Ways to personalise your clothing

Our top of the range in-house embroidery machines offer the best quality embriodery, in a massive range of thread colours to match any brand scheme. You can personalise your uniforms with amazing logo embroidery (usually left or right chest position), and often carers opt for staff name embriodery on the opposite side – which is a neat alternative to a name badge, as its important to show a personal touch in a care setting. Some customers also like embroidery on the back of a tunic with a large sized business name, phone number or logo to enhance the branding.

Why choose us as your Care Uniform provider?

We have over a decade of experience supplying carers and care homes with the highest quality uniforms, surpassing expectations and providing comfortable clothing to match the care setting. We can work with you to adapt your logo so its suitable for embroidery, and suggest alternative colours depending on the clothing colours you choose. Our in-house design team gives us quick turnaround times for visual mockups and logo edits for customers.

The range of clothing we have available on our website is tailored to the types of industries that we supply, and we have worked hard to put together the best range of care staff uniforms on the market today, but if you cant see what you are looking for on our website our wide supply chain means we can source almost anything, so please get in touch if you are looking for something specific and cant see it online.

Demand for household and business cleaners has never been greater, the last year particularly has seen a large spike in people looking for cleaners in their own homes, as they are spending much more time at home working. As such there is a growing number of people starting their own cleaning businesses. Wether you are an individual looking to start your own cleaning business, or a company looking to grow – we have complied our top 10 tips that every cleaning company should know about.

Choosing a name

Choosing the right name is a tricky task, as its the first impression potential customers will get of your business. Do you want a play on words (Maid To Shine), Do you want to state the obvious (WeClean), do you want to use your name (Clare Cleans), do you want to convey your ethos (simply perfect cleaners), whatever you choose make sure you are happy with the image it conveys.

Defining your brand

Once you have a name you need a logo, and a colour scheme that will work for both your clothing, and your brand presence (logo/web/marketing/leaflets). Blue is an obvious choice, many shades to choose from and its obviously associated with water and therefore cleaning, but we have seen many great examples in bright colours. A great starting point is to look at some uniform ideas and when you choose a colour you like, build your company colour scheme from there.

Creating your web presence

You could start with a website or begin with a social media presence.

To get a website you will need a URL (website address) that reflects your business name. You can buy these from a number of places like 123-reg, and once you have that you can set up business email accounts, and a website. You can install wordpress and use pre-built themes to build your website, or get the help of a web design company to build you a custom website.

A good start on social media is a facebook page, which you can use as the hub of your marketing activity, to showcase your work, get feedback and reviews, and get new customers.

Get a personalised Cleaning Uniform

Cleaners need a uniform that is comfortable and durable, while looking professional. We have a range of Aprons, Tabards & Tunics for Cleaners that can all be embroidered with your business logo for the ultimate professional touch. Many businesses will compliment a Tabard with a contrast colour polo underneath in their brand colours, and for a more casual look we have a range of hoodies and t-shirts to suit every type of Cleaning Company.

Getting your first customers

We always recommend starting by reaching out to existing contacts, friends and family, and people they know. Having a new cleaner into your home can sometimes be a daunting experience, and people are much more likely to hire you if they know you through a friend as a starting point. Do a great job, and they are almost guaranteed to recommend you to other people, and you can build from there.

This is a great way of free, effective advertising. Other things you can try are facebook ads, google adwords, local press adverts.

Set your travel and skill limits

How far are you willing to travel? What types of properties can you realistically manage? Are you insured (for example if you enter a million pound house and break something are you covered). Its important to set your limits early on, and stick to them. It will be better to turn away business in the long run, than stretching yourself.

Setting your prices and promotions

Take a good look at your competitors pricing, can you be competitive with them? Do you need an edge? Will you charge by the hour, or by the job? Will you try and upset – e.g most people might want 2 hours a fortnight, can you sell them 3?

Promotional ideas include: facebook competitions (like this post and follow us for a change to win your first clean for free), first clean for free when you start using us, get your 5th clean for half price, recommend a friend for a £20 voucher, sell gift vouchers.

Social Media for Cleaning Companies

Its always a good idea to see what the local competition is up to on facebook, and what types of content they are creating and posting. Take a look at some for inspiration, and if you see a pattern, you just know its working for them, and therefore can work for you too.

Good content will get shares and likes, spreading your message, and can get you new followers and ultimately new business.

Some ideas of what content you could post include: Reviews from your REAL customers, photos of your uniform, photos of your team in action, before/after photos of a cleaning job, a list of the services you offer, staff profiles, special offers, ask questions (what do you look for in a cleaner etc). Remember to use social media as the opportunity to engage with your customer base, answer questions honestly, and use a professional tone of voice in your communication.

Gather feedback

Its always useful to find out what your customers really (really) think of you! Firstly this will help you improve your business, and secondly because its always handy to have nice reviews to use in marketing. Its proven that seeing great reviews of a company is more likely to make you use them yourself.

So be sure to constantly ask your customers for feedback if you think you have done a good job for them.

A hard wearing and practical Nursery Practitioner Uniform is an essential part of running a Nursery, or any childcare setting.

Many Nurseries choose bright colours and will match one of our classic polos with a simple tabard, which will work for both dinner time and playtime! Our fun bugs nursery tabard is a popular choice and is always a big hit with children, and for painting and messy activities we recommend our waterproof tabard to protect your clothing!

For colder days many nurseries will offer a simple hoodie or fleece to their staff, which can be branded and come in a wide variety of colours (our classic hoodie is available in over 50 colours) to match your setting.

We can also offer a wide range of printed or embroidered caps and t-shirts for the kids as some nurseries like to give them out as a welcome gifts, please get in touch if you have any questions about these.

Our embroidery is done in-house in the UK, we offer logos or text which are the perfect way to add your brand to your nursery clothing.

You can view our Nursery Staff Uniforms page here, and we can also take nursery orders via email info@alpha-clothing.co.uk. We look forward to hearing from you.

Next up, check out our top 10 tips when starting a cleaning company…

We have beauty therapist uniforms to suit your business wether you are based in a spa, salon, hotel or on the go.

We source our beauty uniforms from a range of top suppliers, hand picking our range to suit the industry, and our embroidery is done in-house ensuring only the best quality.

Many of our beauty therapist customers will start with a classic tunic, we have over 25 available in a range of colours and designs to suit your business. A couple of our favourites are the Viola tunic with its soft linen fabric feel and marl effect colours (matching trousers are also available), and our bestselling Orchid tunic with bar buttons which is available in 14 stunning colours.

For a more casual approach, some therapists choose to pair a polo with a tabard (our bestselling tabard comes in 18 vibrant colours), and in cooler weather our feminine fit hoodie is very popular. To complete your look we have a range of trousers which suit most styles.

Add your logo to any of our styles for the professional touch, most of our beauty customers opt to add their logo on either the left of right chest (as worn) position depending on the garment style – some tunics have fastenings on the left chest which means the logo will go on the right chest, we will ALWAYS provide a mockup of your logo on your chosen garments prior to production so you can be sure that you will get what you are looking for.

Shop for your Personalised Beauty Therapist Uniforms on our website today, or get in touch if you have any questions, we are here to help.

Comfort and style is essential for any Physiotherapist Uniform, we have supplied many Sports Physio customers with uniforms they love.

As there are many different specialities as a Physio, there may be different types of workwear requirements. Our experts are on hand to answer any questions or to offer advice on what to wear. You can contact us if you need any assistance.

A great starting point for a casual sporty look is one of our Polos or Hoodies, we have loads of styles available. A great example of this is one of our recent customers, a York based Physio.

To compliment these tops for a casual look, you can pair them with some Physio shorts, Premium sweatpants, or Stretchy trousers.

Depending on your speciality, you may require something more formal. For the ladies our large Tunic range is guaranteed to have something suitable. We have a range of tailored fit shirts available for the men.

As the inevitable cold British weather sets in you may want to consider one of our fleeces, body warmers or jackets. They all suit logo embroidery really well.

So to get started, drop us an email or have a quick look at our Physio uniform. If you have any questions we would love to hear from you.

As customised workwear experts, we have supplied many veterinary practices with a versatile, durable vets uniform range that looks amazing.

We are a UK based supplier of embroidered or plain workwear, to a variety of sectors including vets. If you would like to see what some of our clothing looks like with your logo on, not a problem, we would be happy to email you a visual mockup prior to ordering.

We like build relationships with our customers, which is what keeps them coming back time and time again for our amazing quality embroidered workwear, personal customer service, and transparent delivery timeframes. Check out a recent success story of a Wetherby Veterinary Practice who love our uniforms.

A classic starting point for a vets uniform is one of our polos which looks great with logo embroidery. Often a unisex style suits the practice, but we have a range of mens and ladies styles in a variety of fabrics and colours.

Our polos and jackets look great with your vets logo embroidery. Shown here is our classic polo, in a range of colours.

Usually a vets practice will want something warmer too, so we recommend or fleeces, and for a more clinical setting we have a range of tunics – including our best selling vets tunic.

Our embroidered tote bags make a fantastic promotional giveaway, perhaps when customers join.

So lets talk about embroidery. Its longer lasting and more durable than print, and with our in-house embroidery department we can visualise and produce beautiful and accurate logo embroidery, ensuring it looks perfect every time.

So to get started, drop us an email or have a quick look at our vets uniform range, and if you have any questions we would love to hear from you.