We're not a UK factory — and we say so in the first paragraph, not the small print. We're a knitwear specialist in Gaziantep, Türkiye, supplying UK brands duty-free under the UK–Türkiye FTA: MOQ 250, founder-direct, ~10–14 days to Felixstowe.
If you typed "clothing manufacturer UK" into a search engine, you were probably hoping for a factory an hour up the motorway. Here is the honest version: we are not that factory. Kiwi Giyim manufactures in Gaziantep, Türkiye — and hundreds of UK brands source exactly this way, deliberately. Not because British manufacturing isn't good (it is), but because the maths of a small or growing brand often doesn't fit what's available at home. This page sets out why UK brands look to Türkiye anyway, precisely what we do and don't make, and how an order actually reaches your warehouse — so you can decide with clear eyes rather than a sales pitch.
Brands that come to us after searching for UK production tend to describe the same three walls. None of them is a criticism of British factories — they are structural realities of a manufacturing base that has contracted for decades while demand for small-batch production has grown.
The UK's remaining knitwear capacity is concentrated in a small number of heritage mills, many of which prioritise established luxury clients and long-standing programmes. New brands frequently report long waits for sampling slots — or no reply at all. Scarce capacity is allocated to whoever is already inside.
Some UK units are set up for very small artisan runs that can't scale with you; others quote minimums and lead times shaped around major-retailer programmes. The middle — a few hundred pieces per style, repeatable, with room to grow — is exactly the gap where many UK brands get stuck.
UK production carries a UK cost base — labour, energy, premises. For genuinely "Made in Britain" positioning at a retail price that supports it, that can be worth every penny. For a brand competing at contemporary price points, the unit economics often simply don't close. That's arithmetic, not disloyalty.
If your brand story is built on British provenance — Scottish cashmere, heritage mills, "Made in England" labels — a UK factory is the right choice, and we'd rather tell you that than waste your sampling budget. Our honest comparison: Turkey vs Scotland for knitwear.
For UK brands that can't get in the door at home and don't want a twelve-week Far-East pipeline, Türkiye occupies a specific, useful position — close enough to behave like nearshore, priced like a serious manufacturing country, and covered by a trade agreement most first-time importers haven't heard of until it saves them the duty bill.
Qualifying knitwear enters the UK at zero duty under the UK–Türkiye Free Trade Agreement where it meets the rules of origin — against the ~12% UK Global Tariff a Chinese jumper pays. We prepare the EUR.1 movement certificate with every shipment; your broker presents it at import and the duty column reads zero.
Ocean freight from Mersin reaches Felixstowe in roughly 10–14 days, or road freight through Europe in 7–12 days for urgent loads — against four to six weeks from the Far East. Boring is exactly what you want a supply lane to be. Full detail: shipping knitwear from Turkey to the UK.
Our minimum is 250 pieces per colour, per size — the middle ground UK brands struggle to find. Low enough to test a style with your own capital; produced on industrial Shima Seiki and Stoll machines, so the winner scales on the same equipment when you reorder.
Türkiye is two or three hours ahead of the UK depending on the season — your morning email is answered the same morning. You deal directly with the founder, not an agency layer, and a factory visit is a scheduled flight via Istanbul rather than a week in transit.
"Clothing manufacturer" is a wide claim, and most factories that make it are stretching. Here is our actual scope, stated plainly, so you don't spend three emails finding out.
If your range is knit-led, that narrowness is the advantage: WHOLEGARMENT seamless programmes, shaped fully-fashioned panels and colourwork executed by technicians who do nothing else all year. We work as a pure OEM — your designs, your label; we never build a brand against you.
Send a tech pack, sketch or reference garment. Within 48 hours we confirm feasibility on our machines, flag any gaps and give indicative pricing — see how our pricing works.
Proto sample in 10–14 days (£60–140 including express shipping to your UK address), fit rounds until the garment is right, then a pre-production sample locks the standard for bulk.
45–60 days from production start against the approved sample, with a midpoint update and a pre-shipment QC report. Payment is the standard 30% deposit, 70% balance before despatch.
Ocean from Mersin to Felixstowe (~10–14 days) or road through Europe (7–12 days), with the EUR.1 certificate and full export documents prepared so your broker claims 0% duty under the FTA.
A realistic first order runs about 15–19 weeks end to end; the step-by-step version with the full timeline table is on how to order, and the import mechanics — EUR.1, brokers, VAT — are covered in our guide to importing knitwear from Turkey to the UK.
Supplying the UK from outside the UK means the compliance paperwork has to be right before the goods ship, not patched up afterwards. With every bulk order we supply fibre composition data and care symbols for UK textile labelling, materials documentation to UK REACH restricted-substance limits, and the single-site supply chain transparency that makes a Modern Slavery Act statement straightforward to write. On certifications we say what is true: OEKO-TEX, GOTS and GRS sit with our yarn suppliers, and their certificates are passed to you on request — we do not dress supplier certificates up as our own.
No — and we won't pretend otherwise. We manufacture in Gaziantep, Türkiye, and supply UK brands. Qualifying knitwear enters the UK duty-free under the UK–Türkiye FTA with an EUR.1 movement certificate, and ocean freight from Mersin reaches Felixstowe in roughly 10–14 days. Many UK brands combine a UK supplier for one part of their range with us for the knit programme.
No. We are a knitwear specialist — jumpers, cardigans, knitted dresses and vests made in-house on our own Shima Seiki and Stoll flat-knit machines. Jersey and loungewear can be produced through our transparent partner network, always disclosed as such. We do not make woven clothing — shirts, blouses, denim or tailoring — and we won't broker it.
250 pieces per colour, per size for in-house knitwear. That is deliberately low enough for a UK brand to test a style without a Far-East scale commitment, and you reorder the winners on the same machines and yarns.
First samples in 10–14 days from an approved brief, bulk production in 45–60 days after sample approval, then roughly 10–14 days ocean freight from Mersin to Felixstowe or 7–12 days by road through Europe. A realistic first order runs about 15–19 weeks end to end; repeat orders are faster because sampling is already done.
We are honest about this: the certifications sit with our yarn suppliers — OEKO-TEX, GOTS and GRS certified yarns are available on request, with supplier certificates passed to you. We supply UK textile labelling data, UK REACH-compliant materials documentation and the paperwork that supports a Modern Slavery Act statement. We do not claim factory-level certificates we do not hold.
Send a tech pack, a reference garment or a line sheet. We reply within one business day — with a quote if it's knitwear, and with a straight "we're not the right factory" if it isn't.