At Printwear & Promotion, our editorials usually focus on the supply chain. But when we heard about The Shirt Shack – a lively Weymouth-based custom garment printing emporium, we couldn’t resist a visit. Editor, DEBBIE EALES, reports.

With a heritage in waterproof outerwear and roots in industrial clothing, the launch of Regatta Professional 12 years ago was a logical step. Building on the massive appeal of its strong retail brand, Regatta Professional has been well and truly embraced by the printwear sector in the UK and Europe. Printwear & Promotion visits Regatta’s Manchester HQ to trace the history of the company and to discover the secrets of its success.

Three years ago, Just Hoods by AWDis was a glimmer of an idea, but within three months, the iconic College Hoodie was born. Since then, Just Hoods have revolutionised the printwear market with their colourful and ever expanding range of trendy hoodie styles. We invited them to tell us their story.

When Blue Max acquired Banner in May, it took everyone in the industry by surprise. Debbie Eales catches up with new MD, Nigel Plenderleith, whose appointment was pivotal in breaking the deal and making Blue Max the dominant force in the UK schoolwear sector.

It’s four years since a management buyout secured the future of leading promotional merchandise supplier, Listawood. Managing director Alex Turner tells Debbie Eales how having an eye for the right products and investing heavily in automation has seen the company succeed and grow where others have failed.

Editor, Debbie Eales, meets RANKS' managing director, Atul Lakhani, following his company's successful outing at this year's Printwear & Promotion LIVE!

Screen printing suppliers are ten a penny, but Kent-based Wicked Printing Stuff (WPS) are breaking the mould. For a start, the company is run by three young women – sisters Marie, 32, Hazel, 29 and Nikki Heracleous, 27.

The company designs and manufactures its own tabletop screen printing machinery.  What's more, WPS are cornering the market in supplying affordable start-up packages for everyone from schools and colleges to crafters, casualties of the recession, or to those who just want to diversify into something different.

When the eco revolution happened it was a shot in the arm – not just for the promotions industry, but for leading carrier bag supplier, Crazy Bags.

Until 2007, the carrier bag industry had been fairly static, according to Crazy Bags' Andy Steavenson.

I catch up with Roger McHugh at the tail end of a strong November and an incredibly successful year. He is finalising Beechfield's edgy-looking 2010 brochure as we settle down for a chat at his Bury HQ.

Beechfield was founded in 1992 and, after almost two decades, it is still turning heads, with a huge following in both the UK and Europe. Roger describes how the brand hit the ground running, with a range of 12 contemporary headwear styles and a million pieces in stock. Since then Beechfield has developed the most popular and complete collection of promotional headwear on the market.

We're on Henbury's home territory. Our meeting in an Edinburgh hotel is not a million miles from Henbury HQ – a former funeral parlour.

Henbury's portfolio more than doubled overnight when it took on the former Lea Sportswear brands last Autumn.

The last leg of the tour was on familiar turf - at Sandy Park, home to Exeter Chiefs rugby club. And if the Exeter event was anything to go by, PenCarrie has a hit on its hands.

"It's probably the world's most expensive team building exercise!" David Abraham quips, as we settle down for a chat in PenCarrie's boardroom. "It's a testament to everyone on the bus that we're still talking to each other."

Immaculately dressed, with carefully matched accessories, Jill Granger breezes into her Colchester office with a warm smile and a polite inquiry about my journey. She sympathises when I say it's been awful. An hour stuck on the M25. Jill is at once, friendly and down to earth.

It isn't about being the biggest, it's about being the best, managing director Inder Jain tells me as he shows me some of his latest bits of kit. In front of us is an 18-head Barudan. The only one in Europe. And, there are probably three more on the way.

Set up by founding directors Andrew Talbot and Andy Barton in 1999, PromoServe Business Systems have specialised in providing technology solutions to the promotional products, corporate clothing and print industries since 2005, and have more than 1000 customers worldwide.

I manage a quick "Through the Keyhole" type snoop around TheMagicTouch (TMT) foyer before managing director Jim Nicol arrives to greet me. In the words of Howard Carter opening up Tutankhamen's tomb, I discover all manner of "wonderful things", from transfer printed designer bags and Dr Marten boots to a Pandora's Box full of colourful personalised giftware.

As long as there are kids, there will be a need for school uniform. So acquiring schoolwear supplier Stag was a no-brainer for Blue Max.

Blue Max already had a proven track record in supplying primary and secondary school wear so Stag was a tantalising proposition with its complementary range of blazers, shirts, trousers, skirts and specialist tartan skirts.

Strange but true: when the Spice Girls exploded onto the music and fashion scene, they were indirectly responsible for the success of garment decorators Essential (formerly Essential Embroidery Design Ltd). Editor, Debbie Eales visited the company's new 18,000 sq ft premises in Dunstable to meet founder, George Georgiou, following a £100,000 spend on in-house screen printing

With a portfolio of top drawer brands distributed in the UK through PenCarrie, Ralawise and Prestige, Lea Sportswear has more than established itself in the quality, style and performance stakes.

We know exactly how green ours is. Our paper mills are inspected, certified and uphold rigorous standards, enabling us to offer a range of paper products with the knowledge that we are helping to take care of mother earth, for a "brighter shade of green".

A modular embroidery system with automatic tensioning and speeds of up to 1,500 stitches a minute, is proving a winner for Petersfield-based Amaya Sales UK Ltd, which has seen some record sales months since the Autumn.

As part of Edun, the socially-conscious clothing company founded by Ali Hewson and rock star husband, Bono, Edun Live's mission is to promote sustainable employment in sub-Saharan Africa through bulk sales of blank and organic T shirts. Debbie Eales talks to Edun Live's business development manager, Christine Driscoll, about the company's ethos and the positive impact it is having on the Third World.

Losing is just not an option at Team Colours. Since Stanley Rogers and his wife Pearl founded the company in the late '70s, the business has been totally transformed. This Hertfordshire-based family firm was forced into making significant organisational changes, as its core business - manufacturing garments for the major catalogue companies - evaporated overnight. They simply could not compete with Far East companies offering the same for less. Some quick thinking was required.

With more than two decades of industry success to its name, Mantex Embroideries Ltd has plenty to celebrate as it fast approaches its 25th anniversary year.

Maintaining a position at the cutting edge of trade screen printing world is a tough challenge, yet one Screenworks is equal to. Neill Barston met the firm's MD Andy Gilmour to find out more about what makes the company tick.