We have received today a great testimonial from Mr Alan Soloman from Actwell International Ltd. 

Recently we order a number of iron on transfers for shirt with our company logos on. When received the finish was absolutely brilliant with a wonderful delivery service having the goods to us within 2 working days of confirming the order. Prior to order confirmation we were sent an electronic version to show the product. Finally I phone to confirm the method of attaching them to the shirts and was given advice in a pleasant and helpful manner by Suzanne. If all companies supplying products were like this business would be a much easier place. Please carry on the good work. A picture of the transfer on the shirt will shortly be available at our website www.actwellintl.co.uk

Once again many thanks

Alan S Soloman - Managing Director

Actwell International Ltd.

It is the year of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. It is the year when the nation unites as one in celebration of 60 years on the throne for Queen Elizabeth II. It is quite an achievement, being as the only other queen to celebrate a diamond jubilee was Ms. Chirpy herself, Queen Victoria. So, well done to Her Majesty.

In fact, you can’t really avoid the celebrations as the buzz of 60 years sweeps the nation. And for those of you who couldn’t give two shakes of a lamb’s tail how many years our Queen’s been in reign, there’s always the extra bank holiday or two that’s occurring – so everybody’s happy!

You may be planning to join in with the celebrations yourself, whether that be welcoming the Queen to your hometown on part of her UK-wide tour that is currently ongoing. Charity events and other forms of celebration are likely to be aplenty during the course of the next few months, and you might be looking for some items customised to support your cause. If so, look no further! We offer great rates for larger orders also.

 Or you may be planning to have a garden party over the June bank holiday weekend (or just an excuse for a few drinks without the issue of working the next day). If this is the case, why not spice up the occasion with some personalised flags or pennants, or perhaps some Union Flag badges?

Or, pushing the boat out a little more, how about some personalised clothing? We here at GF offer a vast range of items ready to be branded according to your request. From bags and hats to knitwear and aprons, we’ve got it all. Simply choose your products, select your colour, brand your choice, place your order and sit back and wait for us to deliver!

So, if you’re a self-confessed royalist or you’re quite impassive about the whole occasion and can’t wait for it all to blow over, we cater for everyone and you are sure to find something for you in our store. Perhaps this year for one reason or another you have been or will be inspired to do something special, maybe a certain event for charity, or maybe some personal goals you want to achieve. Some personalised clothing or indeed any of our other array of items might be just what you need to give yourself that extra boost.

In this diamond year, join in the fun with GF; browse our collection today – you won’t be disappointed!

The Printwear and Promotion show as ever this year provided a fantastic platform for us at GF Europe  to put faces to those voices we have spoken to over the years.  This year was no exception. At the show this year our products fell into two distinct groups: our core business and our online solutions.

Our core business consists of finishing customers’ printed and embroidered work and our ready range of  blank products.  Our blank products are brilliant for our clients to print or embroider themselves and we showed badges and pennants in various colour and size combinations.   These products are produced in a 100% high quality polyester fabric that provides great results using dye sublimation processes.  Visitors to the stand were also able to see a wide selection of printed, woven and embroidered badges as, over the years, our skills have developed.   We produce sew on badges, badges with an iron on backing or maybe with Velcro attached  and  we are experts in developing a wide variety of epaulettes. 

Our clients need only send an email with a picture of their requirements and our Customer Services team will get back with our competitive prices and delivery times. Our sashes are always well received – both as part of our Readyrange for printing and as completely printed products. Again this year at the show we were able to talk to many visitors to the stand about our embroidery digitizing, and one of our show offers was a free digitizing (up to 10k stitches) of  a clients design.

The second group of products on our stand were our e-trade and e-trade+ division. We have been developing our e-commerce online solution for the past years and these allow customers to offer branded or unbranded products. Two levels of entry dependent upon your requirement allows printed and embroidered clothing to be bought on line.

I hope all who visited our stand found something of interest as well as the popcorn which our team dispensed throughout the three days and here’s looking forward to hearing from you during 2012.

John Sheppard, the man responsible for all the great embroidered clothing here at Golden Finishes, used his own embroidered clothing for good last weekend when he completed the Race the annual Sun triathlon-style challenge across the Lake District!

John and his team, kitted out in Golden Finishes’ quality active embroidered clothing, completed a 50 mile bike race, a brutal 3,116ft climb and a 2.5 mile canoe course all to raise money for charity. In the end, the total figure raised by the team was well over £4,000!

It took the team 12 ½ hours to speed, clamber and paddle their way to success and, in winds of up to 55mph, it was no mean feat! John was proud of how well his team and Golden Finishes’ embroidered clothing performed. The constant rain and testing conditions were not enough to dampen the drive of the team or spoil GF's top-quality embroidered clothing and, according to John, the whole thing was “all worth it!”.

The Race the Sun event is held every year in the Lake District to raise money for charity. The long-distance bike ride takes the competitors right through the heart of the stunning area to the foot of Helvellyn, the second highest mountain in England. After scaling the mountain, competitors still have to canoe 2.5 miles across the beautiful Thirlmere lake.

Here at Golden Finishes we are really proud of John and impressed with just how well our embroidered clothing held up under intense, physical pressure. We always knew that our embroidered clothing was of the highest quality but this new evidence of our embroidered clothing’s functionality is the cherry on the cake! Congratulations John!

In an unexpected turn of events, the political unrest in Egypt, centering on the much maligned presidency of Hosni Mubarak, is set to see the cost of cotton soar, resulting in a price hike of many of your favourite items of clothing.

The price of cotton has already skyrocketed over the past few months as a result of floods in India and Pakistan, as well as an increased demand for the commodity in China.

And never to miss a trick, stock traders have been quick to react, with the price of cotton futures going through the roof.

The Egyptian uprising is the latest and possibly most significant blow in a long line of factors to influence the global cotton market, with Egypt being the world’s largest fine cotton producer.

The major clothing retailers are already warning consumers to expect the prices of clothing in their forthcoming spring catalogues to rise this year, as the depleted cotton supply will be in high demand.

It will be interesting to see just how rising cotton prices will affect the purchasing habits of consumers. It is anticipated that many will simply make the move towards cheaper, alternative materials.  

Fortunately, the high prices are only expected to be temporary. With it currently being mid-season for cotton crops, weather permitting there should be a bumper crop produced this year, allowing the mills to begin to lower their prices.

Here at The GF Store, we do all we can to keep the price of printed and embroidered clothing low. Buy your high quality, low cost, embroidered clothing from us and represent your brand, society or club in the most cost effective way.