McDade Club Ties

Custom tie making in Glasgow since 1946

McDade Club Ties is a family tie-making business based in Glasgow, Scotland, founded in 1946 by Margaret and Charles McDade and now run by the third generation. The company states that it has produced 21 million ties over its history and that its current managing director is David McDade, grandson of the founders. Every order, according to the firm, is reviewed by a family member in Glasgow.

The business specialises in bespoke ties for organisations rather than individual retail: clubs, sports teams, Masonic lodges, companies, military units and schools. Its catalogue also extends to scarves for ladies, metal badges, embroidered badges and clip-on ties, which can be coordinated with the ties as a matching set.

The Smart Order process

Orders are channelled through what the company calls “Smart Orders”, a three-step system designed to simplify commissioning. The first step consists of answering five questions to establish whether the request is a repeat order or something new. The second is sample approval: stock samples can be dispatched within 24 hours, or the customer can wait to approve a bespoke finish. The third is production and delivery, with the company stating it can deliver any order within five weeks.

The minimum order is 25 custom ties. Quotes can be requested through a form that asks for name, email, phone number, product type and quantity, and allows logo files to be uploaded.

Design, pricing and what the quote includes

Every custom tie order includes a free consultation on product and logo design, and the company describes its design work as supported by 3D graphic modelling. It also offers free artwork and states that quotes carry no extra invoicing for artwork, set-up or origination costs.

On price, McDade advertises a price-match guarantee on equivalent pricing and says it will return a transparent quote within 30 minutes for prices sent during working hours. Free next-day samples are also listed among its selling points, alongside director-level account management and a claimed base of thousands of repeat clients.

Tie ranges by type of organisation

• Club ties for clubs and events of any kind.
• Sports ties for sports clubs and sports events.
• Masonic ties for lodges and their events.
• Corporate ties for companies and businesses.
• Military ties, a category the company has supplied in volume.
• School ties for schools and education.
• Clip-on ties as an alternative fastening.
• Scarves for ladies, aimed at businesses and clubs.

Beyond the tie itself, the company offers finishing touches that can be mixed and matched: presentation boxes, tipping options, custom labels and matching products such as the badges and scarves mentioned above.

Examples of commissioned work

The gallery on the site shows several recent commissions. A matching set of ties and bow ties was made for Cambuslang Rugby Club. For Strathclyde Security, the company produced a clip-on and standard tie set with a matching ladies’ cravat, all carrying the logo and corporate colours. For Belvidere Bowling Club, a local club, it supplied a coordinated set comprising a club tie, a matching ladies’ scarf, metal badges, embroidered badges and tie clips.

The site also reproduces customer comments, including one from a buyer who ordered 195 military ties in two orders and described the workmanship favourably, and another from a rugby club contact who highlighted the tie visualisations provided before manufacturing began. The company refers to having reached 200 reviews at the time of one of its posts.

From production to process

The company describes its own history as a shift in emphasis: in the early decades the focus was on manufacturing, while today it presents the ordering process itself as the core of the service. It launched its first website in 2004, an experience it characterises as early for its time, and has since built the Smart Orders system, 3D design modelling and modern communications around that idea. The stated aim is to make ordering bespoke products straightforward for clubs and businesses, with quality, reputation and the team handling each order presented as the elements that matter to the family running the firm.

McDade Club Ties is owned by McDade Promotional & Workwear Ltd, registered in Scotland under company number SC371981.