You know the name, now get to know the person. Nic Simons, director of Shirt Monkey, talks about driving race cars at Bedford Autodrome, his passion for photography, and remaining undefeated at his company’s go-karting events

How long have you been working in the industry?

I first started out in the industry at 23 years old. I purchased a Brother GT-381 from John Potter at MHM Direct, who really helped me get started – my company at the time was called PrintDTG, before we later rebranded to Shirt Monkey.

Nic remains undefeated at the Shirt Monkey go-karting events

Nic recently spent a day driving race cars at Bedford Autodrome

Nic is a loyal Liverpool Football Club supporter

Photography has always been a hobby for Nic

What’s your most overused word or phrase?

Could I have a McChicken Sandwich meal and a coke please?

Which tune can’t you get out of your head at the moment?

Giants by Dermot Kennedy.

What’s your favourite sports team?

Liverpool Football Club.

Tomato ketchup or brown sauce?

Tomato ketchup. It goes on anything and everything.

What is the best thing that’s ever happened to you at work?

I can’t think of anything specifically, but when I take a second to sit back and look at the numbers, I do feel proud of what we have been able to achieve as a company in such a short amount of time. We have now printed over 1,250,000 garments since we first started trading, which is a number that seems totally crazy and beyond belief.

What’s your most unappealing habit?

Never being able to switch off from work!

What’s your greatest ambition?

I would like to continue growing my business, and establish ourselves as one of the biggest DTG printers in Europe. I also want to ensure that everybody working with me is happy in work, and enjoys being part of the Shirt Monkey family.

What’s your hidden talent?

I’m not sure I have any great talents to shout about really! However, I am undefeated at our Shirt Monkey go-karting events!

If you were to pursue another occupation what would it be?

Photography has always been a hobby, which I would be keen to pursue further, should the opportunity ever arise.

If you could be anywhere on earth right now, where would you be?

Driving is a real passion of mine, and I recently spent a day driving various race cars at Bedford Autodrome, including a rather insane Formula 3000 — I would love to go back and do it all over again!

Which gadget or app couldn’t you live without?

WhatsApp.

If you could ask one person (living or dead) one question, what would you ask?

I would ask Tiger Woods, “How do I fix my slice?”.