UKFT halts Rise initiative for start-ups

The UK Fashion & Textile Association (UKFT) has announced that it will be stopping its Rise initiative, closing the doors on the project’s start-up support following an evaluation into resources.

The organisation made the announcement in an Instagram post, where it said: “As a small organisation, we remain committed to supporting the sustainable growth of our sector but we are taking the time to refocus our efforts to better meet the changing needs of the UK fashion and textile community.”

UKFT further noted that its main platform would continue to offer “practical advice and technical support” to help companies through its own membership services, where they can gain access to assistance with business plans, compliance, trends, logistics and more.

UKFT Rise launched in 2012, initially starting out as a network for the next generation rising up into the fashion and textile industry, providing such individuals with varying degrees of aid and contact with key experts across the sector.

Since its establishment, however, the organisation has gone on to introduce a number of other support programmes for UK-based businesses that have a wider scope in terms of issues to tackle.

Most recently, for example, UKFT launched such an initiative alongside the British Fashion Council (BFC) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), dedicated to backing a roadmap towards a circular fashion economy.