Like many entrepreneurs, Amanda Peffer’s business idea was born out of personal necessity.

When Amanda had her second child Issey she became frustrated with the quality and choice of baby clothing on offer and decided to design her own.

Ten years later, her babywear company Blade & Rose employs 14 people at its warehouse in Kendal and sells its products all over the world.

“It started while I was on maternity,” said Amanda.

“There were just boring tights and leggings available and I took it upon myself to develop my own.

“There didn’t seem to be anything for crawling babies at the time.”

Blade & Rose - which got its name from the middle names of Amanda’s two children Harvey Blade, 12, and Issey Rose, 11 - started with just three designs, but now has a range of over 40.

The range includes summer clothing, leggings, tops and accessories, with one of the defining features being the endearingly designed backsides of the leggings featuring everything from cacti and aeroplanes to stegosauruses and elephants.

Amanda initially ran the business as a side project for eight months before devoting herself to it full-time.

Husband Jon soon joined the business and works on its international distribution.

“I did it from my front room originally and it has just grown year on year,” said Amanda.

“It started with leggings, which was the main seller, with matching tops and hoods.

“It’s good quality and premium and people like the fact it is a husband and wife and it’s a family business.

“We have got a lot of loyalty and we keep bringing out new designs to keep things fresh.”

Designs have also included a collaboration with the Worldwide Fund for Nature to make a range of organic cotton clothing with 10 per cent of sales growing to the charity.

Amanda said exports made up half of its sales with products going to countries including the United States, Australia, Europe and China.

During the coronavirus pandemic the business has been focusing more and more on online sales as the wholesale trade to retailers inevitably dropped off.

“It was a panic at first, we had ordered all the stock in and all the trade customers cancelled their orders, but the online has carried on,” said Amanda.

“Our online sales are balancing out what we have lost from trade.”

With the exception of a few days, she said work had carried on as normal with an altered seven-day working pattern in place to reduce contact among staff.

“All the staff have done jobs that they wouldn’t necessarily do as part of their jobs,” she said.

“Everyone has been in the warehouse and working on customer service as well because you get a lot more orders, but we’re managing.

“In the future we plan to continue to design new leggings and expand into new countries and continue to grow online.”