A Note From Our Sponsor

The View is, as you'll note if you look to your right, sponsored by Pier32, the first and best ethical clothes customisation company in the UK. It's thanks to the unstinting support of Guru Ian and Gerry The Voice that we are able to operate and bring you the best in independent ethical fashion and charity news.

It's with a little sadness, then, that I pass on this note from Gerry Hayter, who started Pier32 back in 1994 as an ethical rebrand of his highly successful t-shirt printing business, Headline.

Take it away, Gerry...

No, this is not an early April Fools Day joke.
Pier32 (then called Headline) set sail 32 years ago and what a journey it's been. I've walked a 'Long and Winding Road', but it's time for me to take a step back. I'm having a career break and leaving Pier32's future heading and adventures to be plotted by Ian, our Marketing Director (and my son-in-law–we've always been a family business).
Ethical and environmentally produced custom printed and embroidered merchandise has always been forefront in my mind, as has customer service. I know Ian will continue my mission, and make sure Pier32 continues to do right by our customers and the planet. Don't think that you've seen the last of me. I'll help out with a 'Watch' from time to time and of course I'll still be keeping an occasional 'Lookout'.
Thank you to all my loyal customers and also my friends and ship-mates in the industry. It's been a pleasure working with you all.
What's next for me? Well, Dixie my wife and I are setting sail for the Caribbean for a while. Time for a grog of Rum and some well-earned R&R!
Excited? Very, and a little sad, of course. See you all in port someday.
Gerry.

Closing on a personal note from me. Gerry has always been an enthusiastic reader of the blog, and has been nothing but supportive of my efforts here at The Pier from day one. I know for a fact that we haven't heard the last of Gerry The Voice.



We salute you, cap'n.

Welcome To Our House!

You might know Pier32 as the go-to place for charities to get their customised t-shirts, hoodies, hats and bags. We're proud that our ethical credentials have made us the first choice for organisations that need to know they're buying from a transparent and reputable source.
But that doesn't just apply to charities. We work with universities up and down the country who know Pier32 are responsible, reliable and eco-friendly.
Take the guys at Roehampton University Players Society, who have a solid rep for rep... repertory theatre, that is! They've just ordered a box of hoodies from us to help advertise their upcoming show. Our House: The Madness Musical is, as you'd expect, a riotous assembly of tunes from Britain's favourite Nutty Boys. You can expect to hear all your favourite ska-pop hits, tied into a story of family, community and the essential elegance of the pork pie hat. Here are the guys from Roehampton in their Pier32-supplied hoodies. Looking good, guys!

Our House is showing from the 1st-4th of March at the Jubilee Theatre, University Of Roehampton. If you fancy a night in the House Of Fun, contact Anna Howard for more details and to snag tickets: mailto:howarda@roehampton.ac.uk
That's Pier32 for you. Always going One Step Beyond to help our clients.


The Roehampton University Players are wearing Varsity Hoodies from All We Do Is, which are available in five sizes and 32 colour combinations. Could your society use some hoodies? Give Gerry or Ian a call, or check out the Pier32 website for more details and to order your own.
http://www.pier32.co.uk/product/jh003-varsity-hoodie/

It was twenty years ago today...

Well, kind of. We don't have the exact date to hand, but we do know this: in June 1994, Gerry Hayter changed the name, location and ethical direction of his promotional-wear company, Headline. It became Pier32, and it's still going from strength to strength today.
In celebration, Gerry let me out of my small room at the end of The Pier, and we chatted about the history of Pier32.
Rob: What inspired you to change from Headline to Pier32? Was there a specific event, or a general feeling that you needed to change direction?
Gerry: Headline was based in Soho, right in the middle of London, but we noticed in the early 90s that many of our clients were moving out of the west end to Putney, Hammersmith, Brentford and Heathrow. We decided to follow them, and moved to Thames Ditton, right on the river (to be strictly accurate, we're *on* the river, as our offices are on Thames Ditton Island). We decided then to not only move our base but also re-brand. My wife Dixie coined the name Pier32, which suited the location. We found that we were increasingly being asked for ethically produced, environmentally friendly products which we sourced and then imported. It made sense from a business and an ethical standpoint to reposition Pier32 as one of the first companies to only deal in ethically produced and environmentally friendly promotional wear.
Rob: Are there any highlights or moments in the 20 years of Pier32 that have made you particularly proud or happy?
Gerry: Our involvement in the 2005 'Make Poverty History' campaign was a real highlight for me. We supplied many of the charities involved with ethically produced, environmentally friendly promotional merchandise. We also provided 250,000 ethically produced environmentally friendly printed fabric swatches which were then personalised with a message by 'Make Poverty History' supporters and left on the hill at the 31st G8 Conference held at Gleneagles, Scotland. Seen together, they were one heck of a sight!
Rob: What is it, do you think, that makes Pier32 special?
Gerry: Pier32 is very much a family-run business. My son-in-law Ian is the marketing director, and most of us are involved in one role or another. We're not at all corporate or stuffy and we believe in the personal touch. There's a good chance when you pick up the phone to talk to us, you'll get through to me.

You don't get to your twentieth birthday as a company without doing something right, and Pier32 aren't just surviving--we're thriving. I'm proud to be working with Gerry, Ian and the rest of the Pier32 family. Raise a glass with me as we welcome the next twenty years of ethical goodness.
And, as a treat, behold! The actual View From The Pier.

Not a bad place to work, is it?

There's Enough Food For Everyone If...

Back in January I wrote about the IF campaign. Like the Make Poverty History initiative that gave Gerry the Voice the big idea to make Pier32 all ethical all the time, IF uses people power to send a simple message to the people in power.

The simple fact is that world hunger is a logistical problem. There's plenty of food for everyone, if we take a few steps to change the way we source, harvest and distribute it--and if governments around the world do their bit to be open, transparent and fair about how it's happening.

The focus of the campaign is the G8 summit, held in London in June, with a huge event, The Big IF, in Hyde Park on June 8th. With just over a week to go, now's the time to show your support for a simple and powerful message. Together, we can make sure that world leaders hear us.

How do you show your support? Well, you could join names like Erin O'Connor, Rita Ora, Dermot O'Leary and Loki himself, Tom Hiddleston, and wear the ethical accessory of the summer: the IF wristband. Available at Oxfam, Save The Children and online at http://enoughfoodif.org/shop, they're made from 100% recycled materials and are customisable with special pins. Or you could simply sign up to the campaign at the IF website, and join over 80,000 people in letting the world know there's enough food for everyone, if...

Tell it like it is, David Beckham.

A Poem For Friday

Not from me, so you can all relax. Gerry, the Voice Of Pier 32, pointed me at a piece by poet Martin Powell entitled The Power Of Young People. Here's an extract:

"With will and skill we can fulfil our social obligations; to build rapports, to open doors and lead investigations, 

Into every clause of current laws of rules and legislation, so everybody has the right to insight and information. 

And through our new communion of communal communication, 

We’ll march streets across the nation, trust in transformation, 

And get these corporations cooperating together; for a future that’s bright, whatever the weather."

This ties perfectly into the theme of next week's posts, when I want to talk more about welfare reform and our obligations as both individuals and a society, particularly in view of upcoming legislation that will have major impacts on charities and their ability to do their work. You can read the whole thing at the link below. Please do.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

The Power Of Young People by Martin Powell

Welcome!

Over the last year or so a tide of change has been sweeping through the clothing industry as consumers, as in other sectors, begin to look beyond (and behind) brands, high street fashion, and price to see what impact their purchase might have on this planet and other people.

At Pier32 we are thrilled at this new conciousness, and we want to do our bit to raise it even more and broaden the knowledge base of those already in the know. But its not just the general public we want to communicate with, we want to keep our customers informed of the direction things are moving and and what we are doing to provide them an ethical choice. And we want to hear what they want if we are not already providing it.

To help keep things organised, we will be labeling posts with the big issues - ethics in clothing, organics, child labour etc - or just Pier 32 when we are dealing with news that is more about our business and its customers.

I am Gerry Hayter and Pier32 is my business, but I am not the only one contributing to its success so on this blog you will hear from others too. And you can contribute by responding to our posts, to make this blog better, and the business better too.

I hope you check back often to see what's going on