A Q&A with John from Williamson International

To start, before we dive into the business, can you share a bit about your background and what you focus on day-to-day at Williamson International?

I’m John Williamson, Owner and Managing Director of Williamson International. We are a Brisbane-based, family-owned business established in 1969, and I’ve been involved in the company for many years across operations, customer relationships, and brand direction.

My role today is to make sure we deliver consistently—quality, fit, and lead times—while keeping the business grounded in the values we’ve always had: looking after our people, doing what we say we’ll do, and building long-term partnerships with schools and organisations. I’m still closely involved in approvals, key customer conversations, production planning, and quality—because in uniforms and knitwear, the details matter.

You mentioned long-term partnerships and doing the basics exceptionally well—how is Williamson International structured, and how do your brands support different customer needs?

Williamson International is the parent group, and we operate several specialist brands so customers get the right product, service model, and expertise for what they need.

The Uniform Company focuses on school uniforms—the full program from everyday essentials through to formalwear and accessories, with an emphasis on consistency, supply continuity, and community support. Welborne Corporate Image specialises in corporate uniform and workwear programs, where branding, compliance, durability, and managed rollouts are critical. OzKnit is our 100% Australian-made knitwear brand, producing knitted garments that suit school, corporate, and club requirements—particularly where quality, longevity, and local manufacture matter.

With those specialist brands in mind, what do you produce across the group, and who do you typically work with?

Across the group, we produce uniforms and knitwear for schools, businesses, government, and community organisations. We typically work with clients who need reliable supply, consistent quality, and a partner who can manage ranges over time—not just a one-off order.

In terms of Ethical Clothing Australia accredited products, each brand contributes: The Uniform Company provides select uniform products within our schoolwear range; Welborne Corporate Image delivers accredited products within corporate and workwear uniform programs, where procurement teams want confidence around ethical production and traceability; and OzKnit produces Australian-made knitwear, including knit garments supplied to schools and organisations such as pony clubs, or dancewear companies that prioritise durability, fit and local manufacture.

When you’re managing ranges over time for different environments like schools and workwear, what does your process look like from concept through to final product?

Everything starts with understanding how the garment will be worn: who it’s for, the environment, frequency of wear and wash, presentation requirements, and any compliance needs. From there, we move through a disciplined development process.

At our modern Eagle Farm facility, the range typically progresses like this: we start with brief and range planning, confirming the core items, colour standards, branding placement, sizing strategy, and expected volumes; then move into design and specification, translating requirements into specifications including fabric selection, trims, construction details, and wear-and-tear considerations; then fit and function testing, where we review patterns and samples with a strong focus on fit, comfort, movement, and durability (for schoolwear, that often means hard-wearing fabrics and consistent sizing; for workwear, it includes practicality and performance; for knitwear, it’s about shape retention, hand feel, and longevity); then approvals and production planning, where once approved we lock in the production schedule, confirm supply inputs, and set quality checkpoints; and finally quality assurance and ongoing refinement, where we keep improving ranges based on wear feedback, returns data, and customer input, because the best uniform programs get better each year.

Managing different product types is about respecting what usually makes each category work: schoolwear needs consistency and repeatability; workwear needs performance and compliance; knitwear needs craftsmanship and long-life construction.

Given how hands-on you are with approvals, planning, and quality, what does a typical work day look like for you?

No two days are identical, but the common thread is balancing customers, production, and quality. A typical day involves customer and account conversations (schools, business clients, procurement teams), design and sample approvals, reviewing production timelines and resolving bottlenecks, fit discussions and sizing strategy decisions, procurement requirements and documentation where needed, quality assurance checks and feedback loops with the team, and supplier and partner coordination to make sure standards and timeframes are met.

Uniform programs rely on reliability, so a lot of my focus is making sure we’re proactive, before small issues become big ones.

Since so much of your focus is on reliability and making things easy for stakeholders, how do you work with schools and organisations to meet their needs over time?

We treat uniform supply as a service as much as a product. The priorities are always practical: the garments need to wear well, fit well, arrive on time, and sit within budget—while representing the organisation properly.

For schools, the approach is community-focused and long-term. We support range planning, sizing consistency, predictable reordering, and solutions that reduce stress for families—especially around peak periods. We also help ensure uniform standards are maintained over time, rather than changing for the sake of it.

For corporate and workwear programs, the focus is often on managed rollouts, branding consistency, compliance requirements, and making ordering simple for staff. Lead times and continuity are critical, and we work closely with stakeholders to avoid disruptions.

In both cases, our aim is to make decision-making easy: clear options, clear timelines, and a dependable delivery plan.

You touched on procurement confidence, traceability, and doing things properly—what led you to pursue Ethical Clothing Australia accreditation, and what does it represent for your business and customers?

We pursued Ethical Clothing Australia accreditation because it aligns with how we want to operate: responsibly, transparently, and with respect for the people who make the products. Accreditation provides an independent, recognised framework that gives customers confidence—particularly when ethical sourcing is a procurement requirement.

For customers—schools, organisations, procurement teams, and government bodies—Ethical Clothing Australia accreditation means they can be confident the accredited products are made under fair and lawful working conditions, with accountability and traceability built into the process.

For us, it’s also a discipline: it reinforces strong systems, documentation, and transparency across the supply chain. It’s an important step in backing up our values with a clear standard.

Looking across the journey of the business and that recent accreditation step, what milestone or achievement stands out as most meaningful to you?

Longevity matters in this industry, because it reflects trust. I’m proud that Williamson International has been operating since 1969, remaining family-owned and Brisbane-based, while continuing to evolve with the needs of schools and organisations.

More recently, becoming Ethical Clothing Australia accredited is a meaningful milestone—because it formalises our commitment to fair conditions and transparency, and it strengthens what we can offer to customers who need that assurance.

Building on that focus on steady improvement and long-term trust, what’s next for Williamson International and your brands over the next 12–24 months?

Our focus is on doing the fundamentals exceptionally well and strengthening what matters most to our customers: continuing to improve fit, durability, and range consistency across schoolwear, corporate, and knitwear; refining systems that improve delivery performance and reduce supply disruption; developing product improvements based on real wear feedback so ranges become more comfortable, longer-lasting, and easier to manage; and supporting schools and organisations with clearer range planning, ordering processes, and communication so uniform supply is simpler for everyone involved.

We’re not chasing change for its own sake. The goal is steady improvements that make uniforms easier to purchase, wear, and maintain.

Finally, for readers considering uniform supply partners or wanting to understand ethical accreditation in practice, what would you most like to add?

I’d like to emphasise that ethical accreditation and quality manufacturing aren’t abstract ideas—they translate into real outcomes for schools and organisations: confidence in supply, confidence in standards, and a partner that takes responsibility for doing things properly.

We’re proud to be Brisbane-based, family-owned, and focused on long-term relationships. If readers want to understand what Ethical Clothing Australia accreditation looks like in practice, we’re happy to talk them through our approach and the accredited product options available across our brands.

To learn more about Williamson International, visit the directory listings for The Uniform Company, Welborne Corporate Image and OzKnit, as well as their website.