A growing bathroom products manufacturer is opening a huge new showroom as part of its ongoing expansion.
Bathroom Mountain was launched in September last year by Shamila Iqbal selling a range of bathroom suites and accessories.
Since then it has grown into a thriving online business, based in Stoke-on-Trent, with a workforce of around 60 staff.
Now Bathroom Mountain is preparing to open a brand new showroom at its Tunstall site to showcase its growing range of products – and create up to 10 new jobs in the process.
It is being opened inside a new building which has been constructed in front of the company’s warehouse and distribution centre opposite Tunstall Trade Park.
Director Shamila Iqbal said: "We found that customers would turn up to our warehouse expecting to find a showroom and they left disappointed when we told them there wasn’t one.
"Customers like to touch and physically see products before buying them, so we decided that a showroom should be the next aspect of our growth journey – and now we’re on track to open it in August.
"We’ve also opened a clearance store next door, which opened last weekend. Clowes Developments and Roe Construction have been amazing helping us with this expansion."
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She added: "Our journey started in Tunstall and I grew up in Tunstall, so I want to create local jobs and support the community, for example we’ve been working with the NHS during Covid and allowed staff from the nearby vaccination centre to use our car park."
Twenty five year-old Shamila is the daughter of well-known Stoke-on-Trent entrepreneur Mo Iqbal who runs sister company Tile Mountain among others.
She says that her father inspires her to do her best in business and that she is determined to make him proud.
Shamila, who lives in Woore, said: "It’s been 100 miles an hour since we launched last year. We’ve grown the business from a small team to a workforce of about 60 and we’re still growing.
"Covid-19 has made the business world really unpredictable, we’ve never seen a year like this. We have been chucked in at the deep end and have had to learn how to swim.
"My father came from poverty and worked his way up to where he is today and I’m blessed that I was able to witness that and I’ll never forget how difficult the struggle was for him.
"When I was younger I aspired to be just like him and I realise now that, with all of the opportunities I have, if my father can do what he has done from nothing then I can do it too, and more.
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"Having a successful father comes with its challenges. You feel like you have to work triple as hard as everyone else to show people you are your own person in your own right, so it’s been blood, sweat and tears for me."
She added: "But you are only as successful as your collective. Without our Bathroom Mountain team we would be nowhere. Every single member of staff – whether they are a picker, management or a customer service advisor – is vital to our growth and success and there’s nothing I enjoy more than seeing people grow and succeed."
While Shamila is keeping tight-lipped on Bathroom Mountain’s next move, she has confirmed that the company is targeting future growth.
She said: “Our plan now is to double the size of the business and continue to expand. When you’re a mountaineer, once you’ve climbed one mountain you want to climb the next."