About IDS Shop
At the age of only 17, Anne Walker opened her own dance school in Liverpool. From the onset Anne supplied her students with leotards and shoes having persuaded a local shop to supply her at a discounted price. By the age of 21 she had her own dance premises and gradually the product side was turning into a small business.
As the school developed, Anne decided to try and make leotards for her students herself. She persuaded her mother to lend her £50 to buy a very ancient industrial overlocker, she enlisted the help of the older students who cut out the garments, and with the help of one of the mums they went into production!
Other dancing teachers soon started buying leotards from her and before long her friend's attic bedroom was turned into a small production unit. Eventually the dancewear manufacturing and sales needed to become a separate business to her dancing school. Thus in 1978, Harlequin Dancewear was born.
Thirty years on IDS is the UK's largest wholesale dancewear supplier with a £7+ million turnover, and a 14,000 plus customer base servicing dance teachers and dance shops with quality dancewear from as far afield as Australia. Some 60 people work at the 26,600 sq ft state of the art warehouse and offices.
In 2009, IDS launched a catalogue in the USA, within a year we have customers in 33 of the 50 states, and in 2010 Anne has been nominated for one of the most prestigious awards for American businesswomen, a Stevie Award, in the category of Best Entrepreneur.
In 2010, in recognition of her contribution to business, Anne was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire).
Harlequin House & IDS Staff
Each year IDS launches a mail order catalogue, with 292 pages packed with over 8,500 products including dance shoes, tights, leotards and costumes to accessories and stage props - the future is bright with IDS!
At the age of only 17, Anne Walker opened her own dance school in Liverpool. From the onset Anne supplied her students with leotards and shoes having persuaded a local shop to supply her at a discounted price. By the age of 21 she had her own dance premises and gradually the product side was turning into a small business.
As the school developed, Anne decided to try and make leotards for her students herself. She persuaded her mother to lend her £50 to buy a very ancient industrial overlocker, she enlisted the help of the older students who cut out the garments, and with the help of one of the mums they went into production!
Other dancing teachers soon started buying leotards from her and before long her friend's attic bedroom was turned into a small production unit. Eventually the dancewear manufacturing and sales needed to become a separate business to her dancing school. Thus in 1978, Harlequin Dancewear was born.
Thirty years on IDS is the UK's largest wholesale dancewear supplier with a £7+ million turnover, and a 14,000 plus customer base servicing dance teachers and dance shops with quality dancewear from as far afield as Australia. Some 60 people work at the 26,600 sq ft state of the art warehouse and offices.
In 2009, IDS launched a catalogue in the USA, within a year we have customers in 33 of the 50 states, and in 2010 Anne has been nominated for one of the most prestigious awards for American businesswomen, a Stevie Award, in the category of Best Entrepreneur.
In 2010, in recognition of her contribution to business, Anne was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire).
Harlequin House
IDS Staff
The idea of the IDS (International Dance Supplies Ltd) Shop is a fairly recent one, and is part of Anne Walker’s commitment to Dance Teachers, helping them spend as much time as possible doing what they love; teaching dance.
Anne started her own dance school at the age of 17 and soon decided to make her student’s leotards using an ancient sewing machine bought with a £50 loan from her mum. Demand for her leotards grew, and eventually Anne stopped teaching and went into business full-time as a dancewear supplier.
IDS (International Dance Supplies Ltd) is now the largest wholesale dancewear supplier in the UK, and sells to teachers and schools all over the world.
Anne’s goal for the IDS Shop was to make life less complicated for the teachers, pupils and parents. She wanted the teachers to spend less time worrying about whether parents could find the right uniform, whether the uniforms all matched, ordering, administering and returning the products. She wanted parents to be able to find everything in one spot, and know instantly that it was all pre-approved by their child’s teacher, and she wanted the children to feel confident in how they were looking when they went to their lessons from the outset.
So if you are a dance teacher bogged down in paperwork, or a parent or student struggling to find the right uniform with your hectic lives, the IDS Shop should be right up your street.