Based in Madrid, JHK has grown from its original basic range of about 300 stock keeping units (SKUs) to 1,500 SKUs this year. Today, around five million garments are held in stock at the central warehouse (in Madrid), with another one million in its Barcelona warehouse, one million in its Malaga warehouse, and a further one million  in its Milan warehouse.

JHK, which both manufactures and sources its products, claims to offer ‘an alternative to the big brands' and says its relationship between quality and price is what sets it apart from the rest. "It's a range with excellent balance between quality and price - and with eight million garments in stock ready to ship at any time, JHK is the new alternative to the big brands," says commercial director Sunny Amoros .

The garments are made in BKMEA-certified (child labour free) factories in Bangladesh, three of which work solely for JHK, and distributed to 17 countries worldwide. The European expansion started with Portugal and Italy in 2005. Then in 2006, the brand started to spread through the rest of Europe, entering France, the UK, Holland, Poland and Austria in 2007.

"With a firmly established reputation in most European countries, we felt the time was right in 2007 to enter the UK market," says Sunny.

JHK is currently available in the UK through distributor Quayside, offering a combination of colours, styles, quality and price, says Sunny.

"The basic range offers a powerful colour palette,"she says. "For instance, there are 29 colours in the kids' t-shirts, which match with the adult colours. We also offer real sizes and weights, with a minimum 155gsm in colours, which makes these basic products very attractive and suitable for decorators when combining price with a very good quality surface to work on."

On the other hand, adds Sunny, the Urban range, mainly for women, is colourful, stylish, summery and easy to wear, again with a convincing price. JHK also claims to offer styles that are hard to find elsewhere and which it expects to prove popular in the UK, such as its kids' long sleeved T-in sizes 3 to 14. Its baby and kids' range of short and long sleeved garments are durable and an ideal fabric for decorators, says Sunny, while the Regular Polo, in 200gms 100% cotton, is soft and comfortable to wear, and because it is not piqué fabric but honey combed, offers a smooth surface to print or embroider on.

The company's best sellers are the Regular range t-shirt, 155 gms, for men, women and kids, and the Regular Polo for men, in 20 colours, and it expects these to also sell well in the UK. However, in the UK poly cotton is more of a requirement, says Sunni, so it has also included a polo shirt in 65-35%, 180gsm polycotton, which it also expects to be a good seller in UK.

"The sales of some products will differ between different European markets," explains Sunny, "but just a few of them; the basic products sell the same throughout Europe."

 As an alternative to the main brands in UK market, JHK says it offers a balance between price and quality, with stylish garments and a large stockholding ready to deliver. Sunny adds: "Customers like to feel different and exclusive; using a new brand which not everyone else has can achieve this."

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