Big Boolies t-shirt design company expands (From Gazette & Herald)

Big Boolies t-shirt design company expands

10:00am Wednesday 31st October 2012 in News

A Malton woman who started her company with just £500 and a DIY website kit has moved into new business premises in the town.

Gemma Mills set up Big Boolies four years ago with a loan from her mother. The 35-year-old said she was working part-time and came up with the idea for customised t-shirts on a whim.

“I used the money to buy a t-shirt cutter plotter machine and some printing materials,” she said.

“I already had the computer graphics experience from college and work so I bought a build-your-own website kit from for £25 and launched it in March 2008.”

Gemma said the name Big Boolies came about through her husband Nick.

“It means big wheels and Nick has always said when he bought a car he would put a big set of boolies on it,” she said. “We are huge car enthusiasts so decided to aim our t-shirt site at fellow car fans.”

Gemma attended a number of shows to promote her business and as it grew started to print t-shirts on site.

“I then started to get a huge demand for embroidery and for a short while I contracted it out but after my first full year trading I got so much work I bought my first industrial embroidery machine, and left the part-time job,” she said.

“I then got so busy working from home it got too much so that meant we needed to move into a small office which I found in Birdsall.

“After another good year we bought our second embroidery machine and just recently one of the market’s leading brands of digital printer and started to offer custom stickers and vehicle livery.”

With the business now supplying a range of local firms, Gemma and Nick decided to take the plunge and move to a unit on the Showfield Lane industrial estate in Malton.

To mark the opening of the new venture, they will be holding a charity fundraising event on Sunday to raise funds for Hull Royal Infirmary’s intensive care unit where Gemma lost her brother, Grant, to cancer seven years ago.

“This will also be a day in which Nick and I, our friends and customers celebrate the expansion of our business to new Malton-based premises,” she said.

“It has been a huge step, but we are really pleased and we have had such fantastic support from everyone.”

For more information, phone Big Boolies on 01653 699660.