Penguin Uniform at Printwear & Promotion LIVE 2026!

The Penguin Uniform team has swapped the production floor for the biggest Convention in the UK workwear industry! We’ve just returned from Printwear & Promotion LIVE at the NEC Birmingham, and brought back more than just free samples.

Seeing the latest developments in Direct to Film (DTF) printing, multi-head embroidery technology, and the newest sustainable clothing ranges from our suppliers has boosted our whole teams knowledge and experience. Our entire team can now help pick the best uniform for you better than ever.

What is Printwear & Promotion LIVE! (And Why the Penguins Were There)

Printwear & Promotion LIVE is the "one-stop-shop" for our industry. The biggest names in print, embroidery, and garment manufacturing gather to show off what they’ve been working on and what’s coming next.

At Penguin Uniform we know we can gain far more insight into the products we’re selling by seeing them first hand and talking to the suppliers who deal with them day in, day out. That’s why we visit this amazing convention every 2 years and sent a full 6-person team this year. 

This year Jared took our Production Manager, Business Manager, both Sales Executives, and one of our Marketing Executives. Having a member from every team in the business attend shares the knowledge to the whole company. We want to improve our performance from your first sales call to the final stitch in your uniform and use the latest industry knowledge to do it. (Though, we did have a minor "uniform crisis" when our sales team showed up in identical hoodies and had to stage a quick wardrobe change!)

Powering Partnerships: Our Supplier Insights

While we love catching up with our suppliers over email, nothing beats a face-to-face strategy session. Our boss, Jared was able to talk with the teams at some of our biggest partners; Pencarrie, Prestige, BTC, and one of our specialist hat suppliers, Atlantis.

These relationships are what truly strengthen our service. By sitting down with these partners, we secure better stock priority and deeper product insights for your orders. When we have a strong bond with our suppliers, we can solve your queries faster and get you the best results on the market.

The Wardrobe of 2026: New Products, Colours and Styles

One of the biggest highlights of our trip was getting hands-on with upcoming ranges from trusted brands like Tee Jays, Result, and Stormtech. There is a massive difference between seeing a colour on a screen and seeing it in person. 

We spent the day talking through new sustainable fabrics being used and the colour ranges coming soon to everyone’s favourite apparel. We can now recommend exactly what brand works with your industry based on real life experience. and improve our bundle deals For our clients in construction, seeing the new reinforced stitching on the Stormtech range means we can now offer a more durable jacket perfect for site work.

The Engine Room: The Future of Customising Clothing

Your logo is the face of your business, so we make sure it’s applied with the best tech in the industry. We spent a lot of time in the machinery section, specifically catching up with Happy Japan, the experts behind the multi-head embroidery machines we use daily.

Seeing the latest hardware in action allows our managers and production team to keep our own machinery up to date and decide where to invest next. Seeing the new DTF printing machines working was brilliant for planning the next steps of Penguin Uniform. By learning and developing these new methods and bringing them back to Cheltenham, your logos will look sharper and last even longer. 

What this means for your next order:

• New Products with Higher Durability: First-hand testing of reinforced stitching and high-performance fabrics from brands like Stormtech.
• Sharper Logos and Branding: We will be looking into the latest models and where we can invest for both our print and embroidery machines.
• Faster Turnarounds: Stronger supplier relationships with Pencarrie and B2C will improve our network and speed.
• True-to-Life Colours: We’ve seen the 2026 colours in person so if you’re unsure whether they work with your logo, we can help.

Behind the Scenes: The Penguin Experience

See our trip to Printwear & Promotion LIVE yourself with our "Behind the Scenes" video (and keep an eye out for Ryan, who unfortunately had his name tag printed upside-down and spent the day explaining the mix up).

Looking for Custom Workwear?

We attend these events because your brand deserves the best tech, fabrics, and expertise. If you want to see how these 2026 trends and innovations can improve your team's look, get a quote and let’s chat about your new uniform.