The Zip Yard

Established in 2005, The Zip Yard is a tailoring business which specializes in expert clothing alterations and repairs, including resizing, up-cycling and restyling services.

Services - Our award-winning professional service will help new clothes fit perfectly and extend the life of older items so they are as good as new. Whether you want to restyle, resize, mend or customize bridal, formal and party wear, dresses, skirts, blouses, shirts, jeans, trousers, suits, jackets, coats, leather-wear and more our fast, efficient and affordable service will meet your needs.

Our Pledge - The Environment & Sustainabilty 

We are committed to promoting the reuse and up-cycling of clothes so they last longer which helps to minimise the impact clothing has on our environment.

The Zip Yard franchise is your chance to own and operate your very own boutique clothing alteration store which can stand head and shoulders above the competition.

We need more franchisees to join our rapidly growing brand, manage their own team of seamstresses and tailors, and dominate the market with our high quality services and proven business model. As part of a new wave of expansion across the UK, there are currently a large number of opportunities all around the country to establish a hugely rewarding franchise in this sector.

The Zip Yard is the UK’s only professional tailoring and garment alteration franchise.

There is a huge demand for our services, and for the way in which we deliver them. We provide a proven business model designed to help you take full advantage of this lucrative market, but that’s not all.

There are a great number of advantages to being part of The Zip Yard franchise, including:

While The Zip Yard has a unique way of doing business which you will need to follow to succeed, your new business is very much your own. You’re in charge, and you will enjoy all the rewards of your hard work.

While it’s true that the harder you work at your new business, the more successful you will become, we want to empower you to run your business in a way that suits you. We’ve streamlined all our processes to make sure starting your own profitable The Zip Yard store is as straightforward as possible. It can easily be fit in around your other commitments, allowing you to enjoy a better work-life balance.

Being part of a better, greener future

The Zip Yard is not just a way to make money from running your own business, but also to offer a sustainable and ethical service to your customers. By helping them to enjoy their clothes for longer, and make the most of pre-loved and upcycled garments, you’re working together with them to reduce the amount of clothing waste that goes to landfill each year.

Being part of something bigger

The Zip Yard franchise offers you a way to work for yourself, but still enjoy all the benefits being part of a larger company can offer. You can benefit from all the long-standing relationships with suppliers and advertisers that the brand already has, have access to a huge range of additional products, and take advantage of economies of scale to maximise your profits.

You’ll also be part of a much bigger network who all share the same goal – making The Zip Yard a success! You will be able to share information and best practice with them, as well as work together to grow the brand far into the future.

We understand what it’s like to be a franchisee

Our UK head office team know exactly how it feels to start your own business with The Zip Yard, and watch it grow from strength to strength, because they are franchisees themselves! Managing Director, Neluka, also runs her own stores in Leeds and Nottingham, and has been exactly where you are now. Having been through the whole process herself, she brings to the network a unique understanding of what new franchisees need to succeed.

Unlike many independent operators, the combined skills and experience of our national brand means we can offer all kinds of quality tailoring and clothing alterations quickly, efficiently, and at very affordable prices. Thanks to our streamlined systems, we are also able to turnaround most orders within just 48 hours.

A highly professional – and personal – service

While there are certainly other clothing alteration stores around the UK, The Zip Yard stores provide a completely different experience. Our stores are bright, clean, and professional-looking, with ample space for fitting rooms – the whole ambiance is designed to be modern, inspiring, and accessible.

Our highly-trained staff take their time to get to know their customers and understand exactly what they need from their garments. Our customers know that they, and their clothes, will be looked after, whether it’s a small repair, or a complete refitting of a high-value garment.

Making people feel good

Our services are about so much than just making clothes look better, they actually make people feel better too! When we repair a customer’s clothes, or revitalise an old favourite, they leave our shops with a smile on their face. When we help them enjoy their clothes more by altering them to fit better, we can immediately see the change in how they feel about themselves too. Even their posture changes, and they leave our shop with heads held high.

There’s no set profile for who we consider to be the ideal franchisee for The Zip Yard, and our current partners come from all walks of life. In fact, we greatly welcome a variety of skills and experience to add to the richness and diversity of our growing network.

You certainly do not need any experience in seam-stressing or tailoring to enjoy all the benefits of your own The Zip Yard franchise, as you’ll be hiring and managing your own team to deliver our highly popular services. In fact, many of our most successful partners come from completely different backgrounds with no knowledge of the industry. You don’t even need to have experience running or owning a business but, of course, this would give you a big advantage.

You also don’t need to worry if you are not a natural salesperson – your customers will come to you! Our training and support is designed to help you learn everything you need to know, and our business model is accessible and easy to pick up.

A brand with huge potential…

The Zip Yard was founded in 2005 in Belfast offering quality, fast and efficient clothing alterations to the public and local businesses.

The company now has 53 franchise stores across England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland and is growing fast. WIth our recent deal with Tesco to expand Zip Yard stores into Tesco Extra’s we’re looking forward to even faster growth of the brand in the coming years.

The success of The Zip Yard has relied upon taking a different approach to the clothing alterations business. People want their garments, whether they are ‘every day’ items or ‘special occasion’ wear, altered by trained professionals they can trust, quickly and efficiently, in clean modern premises. This has led to our branches enjoying a high volume of repeat business on a weekly basis.