We started our business over 10 years ago and have steadily grown into one of the leading business in the sustainable clothing market. We work with suppliers ensuring a clear and transparent method on sale.
Our mission is to work with the fashion and retail industry, one pair of trainers and piece of clothing at a time.
We shine a spotlight on the sustainability ethos of global fashion retailers. By helping them save money and unnecessary time, labour and admin costs, we have reduced the resources needed to find a suitable place for seconds or unusable items of clothing and footwear.
We’re committed…
We are committed to giving seconds a second chance and in the process we have saved hundreds of thousands of pieces of clothing and footwear going to landfill. The reason? Well to put it simply, there’s no second chance for our planet — so as a business we are committed to making that change, however small it is to start with, our aim is to make the change.
Giving back
Not just a circular economy pioneer, Sole Responsibility is also firmly committed to supporting charitable causes by pledging around 10 percent (approximately 100 items per week!) of our stock to charity annually.
We want to be a business that not only has a feel-good factor but does good on-the-ground work too, so we help a multitude of charities by pledging our stock – like high-grade boots and warm coats – to those who are homeless across the UK.
Our eco-promise
As part of our eco-promise we are making as many changes as we can internally, as well as working with our suppliers. We ensure that as a business we avoid single use products and use eco-friendly whenever possible – like paper tape for packaging, recycled bags for all parcels, and also, chemical-free products around the office.
We don’t claim to be perfect yet, but we’re making headway in all areas.
Our aim is to lead as much as possible and try to do the best we can as a small business.
The little things count.
Corporate Social Responsibility
For us, CSR is built into the DNA of our business.
We ensure that we are as transparent as we can be. Not only are we accountable to our suppliers, but more importantly we are accountable to our members of staff. We give our staff the opportunity to help grow the business and push towards our own sustainable development goals.
The main aim for our business is to help businesses avoid landfill and incineration with their sub-prime stock.
Our goal is to extend the life of the product as long as possible by reselling these products via our eBay store.
We ensure that all products are honestly described and photographed by us in-house with our high quality photography setup. When used alongside our bespoke, stateof-the-art listing software, we are able to produce professional and efficient product listings, giving us a competitive advantage to list and sell during peak periods.
How did we get here today?
We’re incredibly proud of how far we have progressed since our humble beginnings, and of course – very excited about the opportunity to grow our business in the future.
Life at Sole Responsibility was started by two parents in 2014 who wanted to carve out a new business which would allow more time at home with their children
That didn’t exactly go to plan initially because as anyone who has started a business from scratch will know – it actually entails, blood, sweat, little sleep, a few tears and years of hard graft!
We often wandered around carboots and markets to select stock to sell on our eBay store
From there, we started to have conversations with retailers who had surplus or returned stock that we knew our customers would love
In 2015 we moved our business operations from our home to an old warehouse to grow the business
We decorated the entire office ourselves after work into the small hours over four awfully long nights but it was worth it because we could use our house for living again
Our husband and wife team of two became NINE as we employed more staff
We also have a dog named Custard who enjoys being a part of the team
Together we have saved 70,000 (and counting) pairs of unworn branded trainers from landfill or incineration
We’ve donated have donated 4,000 coats to the homeless in Manchester over Christmas
Our company has grown 40%
year-on-year
year-on-year
Sole Responsibility has since expanded to larger premises in Halifax, nurturing our team and growing our business further
2020 was a year of major disruption, challenge and change
If it’s taught us anything, it’s that sometimes change can be good. Re-evaluating what we deem necessary and what we value has shifted, we’ve learned to slow down and assess the ethics behind our consumption
We were made an official partner with eBay and even featured in their Stronger As One advertisement campaign!
Our 2024 aim was to raise awareness of the problem weighing down the fashion industry, while making it clear to consumers that they can make eco-conscious choices, saving money at the same time
Throughout the past few years we have been featured multiple times in the press, most notably on the OK!, The Sun, Yorkshire Post and Ecotextile websites
