A look back at 2023

So 2023 has been another big year for us. We’ve fulfilled a record number of hires and there has been lots going on behind the scenes...

We’ve expanded our team, we’ve expanded our space, we’ve expanded our stock.

We’ve also opened up our new state of the art laundry facility.

We can now process more costumes every hour than we used to be able to process each day. This improves our current offering and gives us plenty of room for future expansion.

Which is just as well as this year has again seen large growth.

Our sustainable growth continues

Each month in 2023 has been about 50% busier than the same month in 2022.

Not only that, the average number of costumes in each booking has doubled in the last two years.

We’re better placed than ever to be able to deal with this growth, as well as continued future growth.

For us, one of the most important things is building a sustainable business - we don’t have investors, we don’t have an exit plan, we constantly reinvest profits back into the business.

But sustainability is bigger than just this business - it affects all of us on this planet. That’s why we plant trees for each booking. So far you’ve helped us plant over 70,000 trees, restoring habitats all over the world.

On that note - it’s great to see how many people are now returning their bookings using paper-based tape. We stopped using single-use plastic as a business in 2018, so you’ll never find plastic parcel tape coming from us. It’s great to see so many of you following suit as the paper tape can be composted or recycled along with the box.

There’s lots to look forward to in 2024

The most exciting thing for us is going to be the launch of The Costume Source Dance Community Grant.

We love to give back to the wider dance community, so this really is a big one for us!

These grants can be used for a variety of things, from improving studio facilities, providing bursaries to students, or even towards a performance opportunity for the school.

Open to all dance schools in the UK, we’ll be awarding multiple grants throughout the year, with each grant worth between £100 - £1500.

Applications will open in January 2024.

A proportion of each hire will be allocated to help fund these grants, so the more you hire from us, the more we will be able to award.

2024 is already looking even busier than 2023!

Costumes are already booking up fast, so if you haven’t started getting your bookings in yet - now is a really good time!

We’re currently accepting bookings right up to September 2024 and there isn’t a week between now and then that doesn’t already have multiple bookings in it!

Thank you for being a part of this with us.

We continue to look to the future and all that it brings and we look forward to sharing that future with you.

All that leaves is for me to wish you a very happy, peaceful and safe Christmas and we’ll see you in the new year.

Aleksis Gailans
Founder, Costume Source