Become a retail partner

Fashion Changes Futures:

Join our cohort of retail industry partners. Work with us to support unemployed women across British communities get into vitally needed work. 

Every year, Smart Works helps 10,000 unemployed women in communities across Britain find confidence again through providing personalised career and interview skills coaching and interview-appropriate clothing.

Women are referred to us through job centres, the NHS, the prison system and other public and third sector organisations and are able to access our support completely free of charge.

Our retail partners play an essential role in helping us to ensure that every woman who comes in through our doors receives interview appropriate clothing that helps her regain her sense of dignity and self-worth.

Our purpose

Rapid adoption of AI and automated recruitment processes creates increased job market entry barriers for unemployed women. Women candidates who otherwise have the skills and knowledge to succeed in the role but may have career gaps due to caring responsibilities, redundancies or other difficult circumstances are often filtered out of recruitment processes based on these characteristics.

In looking for work, women frequently have to overcome systemic inequity and perceptions of being less competent and reliable workers due to needing to be available for childcare, requiring flexibility in working patterns, or due to bias around aging and menopause.

Our purpose

As a result, women who come to us are often in challenging circumstances and have experienced a severe loss of confidence and self-worth. They tell us that having a job means being able to provide for their children, having a sense of identity, and contributing to society. 68% of the women who come to us go on to get a job.

‍

Case study

UNIQLO x Smart Works

Bobbi Brown

Smart Works helps unemployed women prepare for interviews through quality clothing and one-to-one coaching. Meeting demand takes more than donated garments. It takes partners who fund the service, raise the charity's profile, and make the case that confidence changes outcomes. In 2026, UNIQLO saw its own belief in the power of clothing sitting alongside that mission — and built something bigger than a donation drive.

The partnership ran on several fronts. UNIQLO has donated 7,000 garments so far to centres across the UK, going straight into the client wardrobe. Creative Director Clare Waight Keller became a Smart Works Ambassador and curated a collection of workplace looks for the Spring Summer 2026 range.

The opening of the Bullring store in Birmingham brought it local, with checkout donations and UNIQLO colleagues volunteering at the Birmingham centre.Then it went national. For International Women's Day, UNIQLO launched The Power of Clothing — a photography series with Smart Works and photographer Sane Seven, featuring seven clients supported into work. It led with confidence and ambition, not with the barriers they'd faced. Through March, customers across every UK store were invited to donate at checkout, with payment provider Adyen matching every pound.The results landed on both sides. More than £7,000 raised in March, doubled by Adyen. Volunteering across store and head office teams, supporting centres in London and Birmingham. And national visibility for Smart Works through in-store promotion and the campaign press event.

The lesson for other retailers: impact doesn't need one big intervention. It comes from combining practical things most retailers can already do — and finding the honest overlap between a brand's story and a charity's mission. Fashion Changes Futures is inviting brands across the UK to explore clothing donations, fundraising partnerships, centre visits and industry collaboration. Get in touch at partnerships@smartworks.org.uk.

How your business can get involved

Corporate donation

Consider a monetary or in-kind donation to support the delivery of our service. All donations allow us to keep delivering the Smart Works service to unemployed women across our 12 UK centres.

Corporate volunteering

We’ll be happy to have your team over at one of our centres to assist us in our daily work running the service. Give your employees a meaningful and uplifting team volunteering experience as part of a wider partnership.

Employee engagement

Invite your staff to participate in a charitable initiative tailored to fit your preferences and culture, like an awareness event, themed raffle or a Corporate Clothing Drive to give preloved workwear a new lease of life.

Charity of the Year

Choose Smart Works to be your Charity of the Year. It's a great opportunity to rally your staff behind an important cause and demonstrate your commitment to social impact. As your Charity of the Year, we will work with you to define the best possible scope and roadmap of activities for our partnership.

Brand partnership

Work with our award-winning team on an externally facing partnership, including tailored events and campaigns that help us in our mission and elevate your brand.

Bespoke programme

We’ll work with you to create a customised partnership program that aligns with your company's specific goals, values, and preferences.

Case study

Bobbi Brown Cosmetics x Smart Works

Bobbi Brown

Bobbi Brown Cosmetics has stood proudly beside Smart Works for the last 10 years, providing invaluable support through the ‘Pretty Powerful’ partnership. Each year, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics produces a limited edition ‘Pretty Powerful’ product, with an extremely generous 100% of RRP from every sale donated to Smart Works.

‘Since the start of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, the brand has always been about educating, empowering, and supporting women to be their best selves by enhancing their natural beauty. When you look your best, you feel your best and can give your best back into the community and society. This is why we are proud to support Smart Works, who embody this energy in everything that they do. We get more and more ambitious each year with Pretty Powerful because it is truly such a motivating mission.

As we progress our partnership together, we are also working on more year-round activities to support this incredible charity and raise vital funds that have a tangible impact on so many women’s lives’.

Kellie Billett, VP | GM of Bobbi Brown UK and Ireland

In 2023, the ‘Pretty Powerful’ campaign celebrated its 10th anniversary and achieved an incredible milestone of raising £1 million of vital funds through brand collaborations and donations.

“Our partnership with Smart Works is fundamental to our firm’s Responsible Business strategy. The longevity of our partnership is a testament to the quality of service provided by Smart Works and we look forward to supporting more women to enter the workforce by utilising our skills, time and resources across London and Newcastle."

Christine John, Interim Head of Responsible Business and Wellbeing EMEA at Norton Rose Fulbright LLP

Subscribe to our newsletter

Get access to inspiring stories from our service, exclusive offers from our retail partners and invites to our iconic events. See how you can be part of the change.

Thank you, your sign-up request was successful!
Please check your email inbox to confirm.

Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Support us > Become a corporate partner

Support us >
Become a corporate partner

Support our mission

Subscribe to our newsletter

Get access to inspiring stories from our service, exclusive offers from our retail partners and invites to our iconic events. See how you can be part of the change.