Ordering Polo Shirts for the New Year Rush
By The Velocity Wear Team
Order January polo shirts in November. The production window is 10 to 15 working days from artwork approval, but those are working days, and the fortnight either side of Christmas contains far fewer of them than the calendar suggests. A run approved in mid-November lands comfortably. The same run approved in mid-December does not reach you until the back half of January.
How much does the festive period really cost you?
Count the working days yourself rather than assuming. Between the third week of December and the first week of January, a UK calendar loses bank holidays at both ends and a stretch of days where nothing moves through freight either. Fifteen working days spanning that gap can occupy five calendar weeks. The production time has not changed; the calendar has.
This is the one deadline in the year where booking earlier genuinely buys you something, because it puts the whole build on one side of the shutdown instead of straddling it. Approve artwork by the third week of November and the run is finished, packed and shipped before the offices close.
What is the January order usually for?
New people, mostly. Gyms take on a January intake of staff, offices bring in a new cohort, and hospitality restaffs after the festive churn. That means the size list is provisional in a way a mid-year uniform order is not, and the sensible response is to order a curve rather than a roster, weighted to the middle sizes, with a few spares at each end.
The second common use is a refresh of existing uniform that has been worn hard through December. That one is easier, because the sizes are known and the design already exists, but it brings its own trap: a repeat run has to match garments already in circulation. Batch variation is real and worth planning for, which colour matching bulk polo shirts goes into.
What should you settle before November ends?
Three things, in this order. The garment specification, meaning fabric, weight, collar and placket, because that decides the sample if you want one. The decoration positions and sizes, because those decide the artwork files. And the delivery address, because a January order that ships to a closed office sits in a depot for a fortnight.
Fabric is worth an extra minute for a January order specifically. Staff kit going into a cold season is often worn under a layer rather than on its own, so a heavier piqué that would be unbearable in July is the right call, and a standing ribbed collar reads better over a base layer. The weights and collar options are listed on the wholesale polo shirts page.
Should you order a sample in November?
If the garment is new to you, order it in October so it arrives before you have to commit. A sample is £150 and is credited against the bulk order, and the samples page sets out the build. Ordering the sample in late November is the mistake, because the sample build and the production build then both have to cross the shutdown.
If you are repeating a known garment, spend the sample money on a few spare pieces instead and put them aside for the starters who arrive in February. Knowing what to check when the delivery lands is covered in quality checks on bulk polo shirts, which is worth reading before the boxes turn up rather than after.
