From the West London Free School Prospectus (full of suspiciously clean well uniformed kids in WLFS school uniform, which is a bit odd considering there aren't any WLFS pupils yet, so one concludes it's a straight PR job):

* These items must be purchased from our uniform supplier.

Billings & Edmonds Website www.billingsandedmonds.co.uk

Shop 112 Chiswick High Road, Chiswick, London W4 1PU

T 020 8742 0201

E chiswick@billingsandedmonds.co.uk

Other schools supplied by this establishment include Eton, Harrow and St. Mary's Primary School, Chiswick (the state Catholic one, actually, and rather a rarity amongst the grammars and private schools on the list).

My son's school need not apply, and I suspect if you asked for a uniform for Acton High or Chiswick Community they'd set dogs on you.

From the Office of Fair Trading report on uniform policy:

The OFT has received complaints from parents regarding lack of choice and high prices / poor quality when schools restrict the supply of uniform to particular retailers through exclusive contracts, as well as from other retailers claiming that these arrangements foreclose the market to them

...

Restrictive arrangements are most prevalent among schools which do not offer assistance to parents to buy uniform.

So why is a confirmed free marketeer like Toby Young content to force consumers into the arms of a single supplier?  Is a secret Communist?  I think we should be told why the hidden hand of the market is giving us the finger.