Motif8

What Motif8 does

Motif8 Embroidery and Print Limited is a UK-based garment decoration company operating from a single in-house factory at Gladstone Industrial Estate, Thornaby, Stockton-on-Tees. The business offers five core decoration services — embroidery, screen printing, sublimation printing, heat seal application, and DTF (Direct-to-Film) printing — supplemented by in-house logo design and digitisation, and an online Kit Designer configurator for team sportswear. All production is performed on-site with no outsourcing, using high-tech machinery under one roof, which the company positions as a quality and turnaround differentiator.

Motif8 serves four primary verticals: education (over 120 UK schools from nursery to further education), sports teams and clubs (semi-professional through professional level), military (one of the British Forces' largest suppliers of sportswear and leisurewear, with BFPO delivery overseas), and corporate workwear (including a recent contract supplying Amazon UK hubs). Secondary verticals include Scouts and Guides groups. Customers are reached through a hybrid go-to-market combining direct B2B sales, e-commerce (motif8.co.uk and motif8.yourwebshop.com), multiple physical retail showrooms in the Tees Valley, a structured school delivery programme, and seasonal retail events. Pricing is quote-based for custom and bulk orders, with unit-priced standard delivery (£7.95 UK mainland via DHL) and free school delivery for participating institutions.

The company is privately held with no parent, no disclosed venture or institutional backing, and no publicly reported revenue. Named customers include Amazon, the British Forces, Coldstream Guards, 29 Regt RLC, and the Building Heroes veterans charity. The business appears to be operationally stable with active hiring including apprenticeship programmes, suggesting ongoing capacity build-out at the Thornaby site.

Name

Motif8

Legal name

Motif8 Embroidery and Print Limited

Website

https://motif8.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

UK garment decoration company offering embroidery, screen print, sublimation, heat seal, and DTF printing services to schools, sports teams, the British Forces, and corporate workwear clients from a single in-house factory in Thornaby.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Garment Decoration Services

NAICS

Narrow Fabric Mills and Schiffli Machine Embroidery (31322), Apparel Accessories and Other Apparel Manufacturing (3159)

SIC

Coating, Engraving & Allied Services (3470), Apparel & Other Finishd Prods Of Fabrics & Similar Matl (2300)

akta.pro primary industry

Custom Printing & Decoration Services (Screen Print, Embroidery, Laser) (BPAFAMAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Prepress, Plate-Making & Artwork Services (IMALAKAM), Labels, Tags & Branding Trims (Woven/Printed Labels/Hangtags/Patches/Heat Transfers) (IMAOALAC)

Keywords

• Garment decoration services
• Custom embroidery printing
• Schoolwear supply
• Corporate workwear branding
• Custom sportswear kits

Headquarters

HQ city

Thornaby On Tees

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Garment Sales with Decoration: Sale of embroidered and printed garments including schoolwear, sportswear, workwear, and military wear. Customers can purchase pre-decorated items or custom decoration services applied to their garments.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Motif8 provides in-house garment decoration services using embroidery, screen printing, sublimation printing, heat seal application, and DTF (Direct-to-Film) printing. It supplies and decorates schoolwear, sportswear, workwear, military wear, and Scouts & Guides uniforms through an e-commerce storefront, retail shops, and a direct sales department. All production is carried out at its North East England factory with no outsourcing.

Product overview

Motif8 is a garment decoration company offering embroidery and print services, operating as a single unified offering rather than a modular platform. The core product portfolio consists of five decoration services: Embroidery, Screen Print, Sublimation Printing, Heat Seal Application, and DTF (Direct-to-Film) Printing, complemented by Logo Design services and an online Kit Designer tool. The company also distributes a range of branded product categories including Schoolwear (supplying over 120 schools), Sportswear, Workwear (notably supplying Amazon UK hubs), Military Wear (one of the largest British Forces suppliers), and Scouts & Guides uniforms. All production is carried out in-house at their North East factory with high-tech machinery, ensuring all work is never outsourced.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Embroidery Services Professional embroidery decoration service for creating corporate branding on garments, using digitised logos and high-quality threads to produce durable, professional results for schools, sports teams, workwear, and military customers.
• Screen Print Services Screen printing service for artwork up to five colours, ideal for large quantity orders with high vibrancy and long-lasting results using heat-cured inks across garment categories.
• Sublimation Printing High-temperature heat press transfer of designs onto fabric using specialised transfer paper, creating fully bespoke garments with excellent colour retention that do not peel, crack or fade.
• Heat Seal Application Vinyl-based printing method where artwork is cut and heat sealed onto garments, ideal for applying names and numbers onto sportswear and smaller printed orders.
• DTF (Direct-to-Film) Printing Digital printing process transferring artwork onto film with water-based inks and adhesive powder, then heat pressed onto garments for highly durable full-colour prints on both light and dark garments.
• Logo Design Services In-house design service creating or digitising customer logos for embroidery approval, working with Pantone colours to ensure accurate brand representation across garments.
• Kit Designer Online interactive tool allowing customers to design and create bespoke kits and training wear for team sports, with templates and design team assistance.
• Schoolwear Decorated school uniform garments supplied to over 120 schools nationally, covering nursery through further education levels with branded uniforms and PE kits.
• Sportswear Decorated sportswear and leisurewear for various sports disciplines, supplied to semi-professional and professional sports teams across the UK.
• Workwear Corporate workwear including garments decorated with company branding, supplied to businesses including Amazon UK hubs for employee apparel programs.
• Military Wear Sportswear, leisurewear, and unit merchandise for British Forces, with Motif8 being one of the largest suppliers to military units across the UK and overseas operations including BFPO delivery.
• Scouts & Guides Uniforms Uniforms and merchandise for UK Scouting and Guiding organisations including Beavers, Brownies, Cubs, Explorers, Guides, Rainbows, Scouts, and Squirrels.
• Online Catalogue Storefront Online product catalogue storefront featuring branded merchandise across all Motif8 categories including schoolwear, sportswear, workwear, military, and Scouts & Guides.

Quantifiable outcome

• Supplies over 120 schools nationally
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• AmazonnotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerRecent collaboration with Amazon to provide workwear for many of their UK hubs. This represents a significant client relationship for Motif8's workwear division.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves2 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• School Trends: UK school uniform manufacturer and supplier. Comparable in the schoolwear vertical that is one of Motif8's primary segments, though School Trends focuses on uniform production rather than decoration services.

Direct peers

• Kitlocker: UK custom teamwear and kit supplier with in-house decoration services targeting schools, clubs and semi-professional teams. Comparable sportswear and education vertical mix with Motif8.
• Logo Sportswear: UK online retailer of custom teamwear and sportswear with embroidery and printing decoration services. Directly comparable in sportswear/schoolwear verticals and D2C-plus-B2B channel model.
• Stitch & Print: UK custom apparel decorator offering embroidery, screen printing and heat transfer services to businesses, clubs and schools. Directly comparable mid-market UK service offering to Motif8.
• Ralawise: UK-based promotional clothing, workwear and schoolwear supplier with in-house decoration (embroidery and print) capabilities. Closest UK peer to Motif8 given overlapping verticals in education, sports and corporate apparel.
• CustomInk: US-headquartered custom apparel platform offering screen printing, embroidery and DTF decoration to groups, teams and businesses. Comparable online configurator-led B2B model and multi-method decoration offering.
• AWDis (All We Do Is Sport): UK sportswear brand supplying blank and decorated garments to teamwear decorators and schools. Comparable product base and customer overlap with Motif8's sportswear and schoolwear categories.
• Penbrothers Custom Embroidery: UK custom embroidery and branded workwear specialist serving corporate, sports and education customers. Comparable in service mix (embroidery-led decoration) and mid-market B2B focus to Motif8.

Emerging players

• Printful: Print-on-demand and custom apparel decorator with DTF, sublimation and embroidery services. Overlaps with Motif8 on decoration methods, though Printful operates a distributed model vs. Motif8's single-site in-house factory.

Broad incumbents

• Brigade Clothing: UK workwear and corporate clothing manufacturer offering branded uniform programmes. Comparable in Motif8's workwear vertical, particularly the Amazon UK hubs partnership context.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/motif8ltd
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/motif8-ltd
• Instagraminstagram.com/motif8ltd
• Xx.com/Motif8ltd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Motif8