A Black Country entrepreneur has turned a rainy-day side hustle into a £1.2 million garden furniture business.
Matt Grainger, founder of MG Timber, started by building picnic tables in his back garden during downtime from his roofing job.
He has since grown the business to where it now supplies well-known brands such as carmaker Mercedes-Benz and Staffordshire theme park Drayton Manor.
Some of its products have even been used in Hollywood movie Mamma Mia 2.
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Mr Grainger founded Aldridge-based MG Timber in 2017 after being forced to take a day off work due to bad weather.
What started as a small side project soon became a full-fledged operation. The company now operates from a 4,300 sq ft facility, employing eleven staff during peak seasons.
He said: "I had an idea to build a picnic table when I was laid off for a day. This inspired me to build a workshop in the back garden and list them on eBay.
"The woodworking generated very little profit initially and whatever it made got reinvested into tools."
He spent £16,000 on premium Swedish redwood which he said proved to be a pivotal moment for the company but the gamble paid off, resulting in the company securing high-profile contracts.
From sales of £30,000 in 2017, the company hit £400,000 by 2020 and has now reached £1.2 million in 2024.
Looking ahead, the company plans to expand into international markets, with France on the horizon for 2025 following successful trials and new product launches including bin stores and larger picnic tables.
Mr Grainger said: "Our goal is to turn over £1.5 million in 2025.
"Manufacturing is such a hard business because growth demands so much in terms of machinery, storage and workspace.
"But the potential growth from these challenges makes it all worthwhile."
