A workshop fit for a craftsman

23/06/2010

AN ENGINEER turned craftsman whose handmade plant and reptile enclosures have earned a glowing national reputation has expanded his business.

Steven McHugh has been designing and making his own vivariums – indoor enclosures for keeping and raising living animals and plants – for more than four years.

He first began making the wooden and glass structures to sell in his wife Becky's shop, Hull Pets and Gardens, in Beverley Road.

However the quality and craftsmanship of his creations, complemented by a fair and reasonable price, saw demand for his products mushroom.

This rocketing demand, which came from customers at Hull Pets and Gardens as well as wholesalers who wanted to sell his vivariums at outlets across the country, meant Steve needed a new home in which to enable his business to grow.

Now, he has 1,603sq ft of space in which to spread his wings after moving into a unit at Lake Enterprise Park, in Bergen Way.

Steven said: "When my wife started up Hull Pets and Gardens she added a reptile section.

"This led to a customer demand for things like tanks and vivariums, so I decided to start manufacturing my own, to sell in the shop.

"We now supply the vivariums and tanks wholesale to shops up and down the country, from Glasgow and Edinburgh to the South East.

"And of course we still sell to the public through Hull Pets and Gardens."

Recently, Steven has been working around the clock to ensure he does not let any customers down.

"I think we are so busy because we have got the balance right between quality and price", he said.

"You can buy cheaper but the quality is not nearly as good. In fact you can pay higher prices and they might still fall to bits.

"I supply to a shop in Cleethorpes and the guy there said we supply the best quality vivariums on the market, which is great."

Steven, who was assisted in his search for new premises by Dale Gooderham at Garness Jones, said one of the best things about his new move was the speed with which the deal was overseen.

Link:

Garness Jones

www.garnessjones.co.uk