The University of Exeter is a public research university, offering research and study in the sciences, social sciences, business, humanities and arts.

The University originally went out to tender in 2018 for the provision of ceremonial gown services for its 23 graduation events annually. This included the provision for students to book attendance at one of the many events, hire or purchase gowns and book attendance for family members. The University also required the ability for academic staff and VIP personnel to be able to book attendance and their relevant attire for the occasion.

The chosen organisation was also required to provide all gowns, as well as a gown collection, robing and return service on the day. Graduation Attire responded to the tender, providing a proposal that was ultimately awarded, being the most economically advantageous offer above all others received.

During our first graduation event with the University, we were delighted to receive an email from the Graduation Team just half way into the event. The Team wanted to share some feedback with us and comments from the academic staff regarding the quality of service. This made us extremely proud to be recognised for the work we had put into the event.

Some of the feedback that continues to be noted is that academic staff members in particular were especially pleased with the accuracy of our robes, having been designed specifically for the University and not just generic gowns. This was as a result of our links with the Burgon Society, an organisation dedicated to the study of academic dress. This knowledge is ultimately incorporated at the design stage.

In regards to student feedback compared to previous suppliers, ordering process feedback increased in positive feedback overall from 92% to almost 97%, while ease of collection scored just over 97%. In terms of information from robing staff and robe return, the feedback sought to find out who was very satisfied, as opposed to those who were either somewhat satisfied or dissatisfied; these figures jumped by almost 13% and 6.5%, respectively. This has been one of the key successes of the contract and we hope to improve further year on year.