And they are bucking the trend. Business is very good indeed – not just here, but on the continent and further afield.

"We progressed and just expanded over such a short period of time," says Hazel. "We have had an excellent year," says Nikki. "In a recession, people want a career change – they may have a passion for something like this but maybe they never had the opportunity.

"In the UK we are actively expanding our customer base into schools and colleges but because of the pound, we sell to the European market as well – sometimes to crazy places! We get a lot of people asking if we send to Spain or France, but I have even shipped one of our bigger kits to the Seychelles."

And while the shipping costs might be high, it is still cheaper for customers outside the UK to buy from WPS, the girls say.

Adds Hazel: "We have recently seen a huge growth in inquiries from schools and colleges."

All three girls have good degrees. Technical expert, Nikki, has a media degree and Hazel studied performing arts, while Marie did politics and international relations.

None of them felt pressured into taking over the family business. "Our parents had the uniform business from when we were quite small," says Nikki. "I grew up learning to screen print and they have really supported this side of the business."

Adds Hazel: "Someone mentioned to me that it was very odd for women to be doing this in a very male-orientated environment. Nikki and I joke about it, but Nikki has her own fan club. As our inks and screen printing expert, she handles a lot of the queries. She's the main voice for us and a lot of people are surprised that she does have that level of experience."

Being women has actually been a benefit rather than a barrier, they believe.

"When women call, it's easier for them," says Hazel. "You do get women screen printers and they love Nikki. Women feel so much more comfortable asking a woman questions."

Adds Nikki: "Customers who are beginners sometimes say they feel silly about asking such obvious questions – but I do my best to make them feel comfortable. After all, if they're starting out, why would they know?"

When their parents retired, and the sisters took over the day to day running of Uniform Leisurewear, they were increasingly being asked to source screen printing materials.

"We noticed a gap in the market, more to supply students," recalls Marie. "We started life on eBay two and a half years ago."

The company's original eBay name was Grundelfinger (German for "little battle machine").

Today, WPS presses have dual branding as Wicked Printing Stuff and Grundelfinger840.

"We decided to expand the uniform business and began selling inks. A lot of people had been asking 'how do you get into this?'. And it was a customer who actually said to us 'this is wicked'." says Hazel. The name stuck.

Over the years, the company had welcomed work experience students and the penny began to drop that these creative young people, pursuing a fashion career, needed a low cost means of producing professional print.

So Wicked Printing Stuff was born – helping customers turn creativity into reality.

The girls' early experience came into play when the company began designing its own printing presses.

"We know what works," says Nikki. "One of our strengths is the micro registration on the presses themselves. That's invaluable when you are printing multi-colour jobs. The quality of our product is reflected in the garments that our customers produce."

WPS has concentrated on manufacturing a tabletop range of one, two, four and six colour presses, which require very little space.

Says Hazel: "One of the reasons for that was because we were getting requests for screen printing products from customers who didn't have a press. They didn't have the space.

"They needed something they could do from their garage, or if it was a school, they wanted to put five or six presses in a classroom."

A variety of platen sizes are available, including a new babywear platen, introduced last year. "That's another selling point of our machines," says Hazel. "You can print onto small clothing, sleeves or really big garments, and we have an extra large platen for big fabric prints."

These days, WPS is not the only company selling tabletop presses, but they claim to be one of the only companies to build their presses in-house.

"We have tried to price our presses so that they are accessible to everyone, but we don't compromise on quality," says Hazel.

"We want to show the quality. We have our own factory and we try to use UK suppliers where we can.  All press parts are made in the UK."

With a proven track record in screen printing, the girls made good use of existing contacts to source screen printing supplies more cheaply and in smaller amounts than the traditional suppliers. In 2009, WPS became an official distributor for Union inks, offering a huge range in smaller quantities if required. The fact that WPS is happy to supply inks in smaller quantities – but from a wider range – is also proving attractive to the one-man bands.

"And with a lot of people being made redundant, individuals who do have a creative side were looking at maybe setting up a business at home," adds Nikki. "WPS could enable them to set up without having to make a huge investment. We opened up the market for them."

The entry level is surprisingly inexpensive.

"Costs vary depending on whether someone wants equipment for their hobby or as a business set up package. If it's a hobby, we sell small kits - you could buy a hobby stencil cut out kit for £50 plus VAT. If someone wants a printing press and an exposure unit - a photographic method of producing their silk screen, you're looking at £199 plus VAT," advises Nikki.

I ask about customers who are new to screen printing.

"That's where my technical expertise comes in," says Nikki. "I can advise them, from the very basic things a customer will need to know to how many different types of T shirt printing ink there are.

"I have to find out about them as individuals – about what they intend to print – and then I can point them in the right direction. We can then start to tailor a package to suit them.

"Unlike other companies, we don't just sell a set package. Instead of being stuck with something you're not necessarily going to use, we can meet individual needs."

Ironically, some of the girls' business comes from people who have been sold completely the wrong set-up, they say.

WPS also manufactures a unique vacuum board for multi colour printing onto paper, which can be attached to the Gundel presses. According to Hazel, there is nothing like it in the UK and it's proving very popular for posters and display boards.

"We have an embroidery service as part of our uniform business (with an in-house artwork, designing and digitising service), so for people who want to buy one of our printing packages, they can also offer embroidery to their customers, enabling them to expand their business," adds Nikki.

So what about the future?

In 2008, WPS began a screen printing school, giving practical lessons in all stages of textile printing. The girls are expanding on their current site to enable the popular and successful workshops to continue.

"For the year ahead, we would like to have presses in stock. From a three week turn around at the beginning of 2009 we are now on a seven day turn around. They are still made to order but we have more people to make them," says Hazel.

Nikki sums it up: "These past couple of years have been fantastic and WPS ethos (and products) seems to work. We will always thank our customers for their loyalty in the early days.  It can be hard work. There are really long days; you do the hours and if something needs to go out of the door, the team are here at 8pm doing whatever it takes."

Girl power is still alive and kicking.

For more information visit www.wickedprintingstuff.com

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