Outdoor Building Group has been transforming homes for the past five years with extensions – and the company has now opened its first show site in the north-east.
For company owner David Ferrie, it’s been a long time coming and a move he felt was important to make.
Outdoor Building Group (OBG), headquartered in Glasgow, was established in 2016 and started off with self-builds and home extensions before moving into garden rooms in late 2018.
Since then, the company has continued to grow and a new site has now been opened within the grounds of Deeside Activity Park, near Aboyne.
Working from home space
Since Covid-19, the firm has seen a big increase in trade due to more people working from home.
Stuart Hemple, OBG partner, said: “It has been incredible and we can’t see it stopping if I’m being honest.
“With people wanting more than a home office and more off larger size entertainment spaces or outdoor living designs our business has increased.”
Boost for north-east customers
Mr Ferrie said: “It was important to get a presence in the north-east.
“We were finding was it was frustrating for some people as they didn’t want travel over three hours to come to Glasgow.
“So we wanted to be able to offer an area where they can come and see the quality of the build and an understanding about us to know what they are buying.
“We felt the need to get closer to clients in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire so with the launch of our new show site at Deeside Activity centre we are very excited about the future.”
One of the advantages of an outbuilding from OBG is that you don’t need planning permission.
Two jobs have been created with the opening of the new site and it’s hoped that there will be a need to recruit local tradespeople in the future.
Each of the buildings are designed from scratch and built using a cladding imported from New Zealand.
Mr Hemple said: “Depending on how well the response goes, and so far it’s been terrific, and if we continue to see growth in the area then we probably will look for locally skilled individuals to help grow the business.”
Mr Ferrie has shown his support for the North East Now campaign, which has made it easy for people to support local firms from a wide range of industries during the pandemic.
The initiative is driven by Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce and backed by creative agency Hampton and Aberdeen Journals.
He said: “I think the website is very user friendly.
“It’s a really handy website for focusing on what I believe really matters which is what’s going on in our local area.
“It’s important to let local people know who we are and what benefit we offer the local community.”
For further information on Outdoor Building Group visit www.outdoorbuildinggroup.co.uk
To find out more about North-East Now, visit www.northeastnow.scot
To share your positive business story, email stories@northeastnow.scot