Lead Times Offices Should Plan For
By The Velocity Wear Team
Branded office clothing takes 10 to 15 working days to manufacture once artwork is approved, with delivery transit on top of that. For a first order, count back five to six weeks from the day staff need the kit. That window absorbs the quote, one or two artwork rounds, size collection and a sample if you want one before the run begins.
How long does an office clothing order actually take?
The 10 to 15 working day figure is the build: cutting, decoration, finishing, folding and packing. Fifteen working days is three calendar weeks. Add three to five days for a UK delivery, a little more for the USA or Europe, and approval to doorstep lands near four weeks. Our corporate clothing page shows the garments offices order most, and the wholesale overview sets out how a run is priced and structured.
What most buyers underestimate is the part before the clock starts. Artwork approval is a fixed point, not a formality. Until someone with authority signs off the print position, the thread colours and the size breakdown, nothing is cut. Offices lose more days to an unanswered internal email than to the factory floor.
When should the order go in for a start date?
Work backwards from the fixed date rather than forwards from today. If a new intake starts on the first Monday of a month, the kit needs to be in the building the previous week, which means the order leaves approval three to four weeks before that, which means artwork is agreed a week earlier again.
- 1Fix the date the kit must be on site, not the date staff start.
- 2Subtract delivery transit: three to five working days in the UK, longer for the USA and Europe.
- 3Subtract the 10 to 15 working day production window.
- 4Subtract a week for artwork rounds, size collection and internal sign-off.
- 5If you want a sample first, subtract another two weeks on top.
What holds up an office order most often?
Delays cluster in a few predictable places, and all of them sit on your side of the line rather than ours.
- Size collection. Chasing 60 people for a chest measurement takes longer than making the shirts.
- Logo files. A logo pulled from a website is rarely print-ready; the original vector file saves a round trip.
- Dress code decisions. Whether managers get a different colour is a policy question, and policy questions go to meetings.
- Purchase orders. Finance approval cycles are not always quick, so raise the PO alongside the artwork rather than after it.
A sample adds real time too, and it is usually time well spent on a first order. The £150 sample is credited against the bulk order, and we cover what to inspect when it lands in our guide to samples before bulk.
Can onboarding kit be held in stock instead?
Yes, and for offices that hire steadily it is the sensible answer. Instead of running a fresh order every time three people join, order a quantity that covers six or twelve months of expected starters and store the surplus. The 50-piece minimum applies per design, so an office of 40 people is buying stock anyway.
Holding stock also protects the one thing repeat orders cannot guarantee, which is an exact dye match between batches. If matching matters, buy the year in one run. There is more on how dye lots behave between batches in our restocking notes, and a wider view of production timing in apparel production lead times explained.
One practical note on volume: the discount rises with quantity, up to 35% off the 50-piece price at the top tier. Buying a year of onboarding kit in one order is often cheaper per piece than three small runs, before you count the admin each of those runs costs you.
Delivery to more than one office needs saying at the quote stage, because splitting a run across addresses is a packing instruction rather than an afterthought. We deliver to the UK, the USA and Europe and invoice in seven currencies, so a business with staff in two countries can run one order instead of two. Sort the addresses out while artwork is still in progress and it costs nothing in time.
