About Us

(Alex with Theo at the Smarta Awards – You can checkout the new Smarta book on amazon here)

Alex, the MD of Booths Garden Studios, was given a Smarta Award which highlighted top innovative companies. Companies who were “game changers”. The panel of judges included Deborah Meaden and the fact that Alex’s Garden offices are Zero Maintenance along with unique guarantees (like “we’ll take the Studio back if you don’t like it!”) Booths were seen as a company at the forefront of the huge surge in the popularity of Garden Rooms. The figures back this up showing that Booths turned over half a million in 2009, over £1M in 2010, and £1.2M in 2011. All of this growth during a dire economic outlook for the UK economy.

(Alex Booth & Amanda Lamb during Filming for the TV Programme – “My Flat Pack Home”)

The QC Garden Studio has been the backbone of this growth. The “QC” stands for “Quarter Century” since the exterior of this Studio needs no maintenance for at least 25 years. Everyone is very busy these days so not having to spend weekends painting or staining a Studio to maintain it’s looks, is very appealing. Timber inevitably changes it’s look as it gets older whilst the QC doesn’t. Booths have actually stopped supplying Timber Studios for these reasons.

The journey to the QC started for Alex in 1999 when he built a shed in his back garden. He didn’t like the fact that when he moved house, he couldn’t take his shed with him – this is why every Booths Garden Studio is now portable.

Alex asked…

“Why spend thousands on a building that you can’t take with you? By making the Studio portable, it increases it’s value as an asset. If you move home, you can take it with you, or if you stop using it, you can sell it on. Being a portable building increases it’s second hand value. You don’t suffer the massive depreciation that can occur when you sell your house and the buyer has no interest in your expensive garden room.”

The obsession Alex has for the whole concept of Garden Rooms, Studios and Offices has driven Booths to the number one supplier of Zero Maintenance Garden Rooms in the UK, and for those who can’t afford the lump sum, Booths are starting to rent their Garden Studios to businesses that haven’t got the cashflow to instantly purchase one.

There is an installation charge and they can rent the Studio for as little as 6 months.

 

 

Renting his Studios is all part of Alex’s plan to give everyone the opportunity to have an extra room. Extra space which can transform the day to day quality of your leisure or business.

This was prompted recently by a friend of Alex who said, “I’d love one of your Studios for my business – if I had one, I could do “Tanning” (she runs a Beauty Salon from home) and probably earn an extra £100 per week, but I haven’t got the money to buy one.”

So Alex suggested “If you pay for the installation and then pay me a rent, see how you get on for 6 months and if it doesn’t stack up for you, I’ll take it back.” Needless to say – it’s an offer Alex’s friend couldn’t refuse and she will very soon be adding an asset to her business.

Email Iain for more details about renting one of Alex’s Garden Studios for your Business.

Alex actually started out supplying and building conservatories, and has worked for “Fairline Boats”, masters of the millionaire yachts.

It was after building the shed at the bottom of his garden, that he realized the full benefits of not working in the house…

He felt “more in control”, rather than the business controlling him.

He felt he made better decisions, with better concentration, and more productivity.

It was this “aha”, that made Alex determined to design an affordable, insulated, portable, attractive Garden Building. (He never thought he’d be turning over a million pounds doing it)

The cheaper end of the Garden Room market in the UK were simply sheds with more insulation , or single skin buildings like log cabins, which don’t actually have much “log” and are more “plank cabins” than log. This meant Alex started from scratch. He didn’t run a shed business or “log” cabin business so he started with a fresh outlook to the situation.

His outlook was helped massively when he tied up with Brian Connellan. Brian was an expert designer (he designed one of only 2 Conservatory’s which had a British Standards Institute given to it) and together, they created the QC Studio the UK’s only Zero Maintenance Garden Studio, Garden Office or Granny Annexe.

 

Brian on the phone to customers (left).

 

 

 

 

 

Brian and Alex discussing the future for Garden Rooms in the UK.

Alex and Iain enjoying the view from the roof of a QC Garden Studio. The Studio could take the weight of 10 men very easily and we now install Sedum Roofs or a Gravel roof if you wish.

Alex knew that famous authors such as Roald Dahl, Jeffrey Archer, Dylan Thomas and Philip Pullman preferred the concentration zone that such an environment could give.  He set about designing a Garden Studio with the following key features; portable, insulated, secure, attractive, installed in hours, free standing, provide a professional working atmosphere, and most of all VALUE FOR MONEY. Contact Iain for more information, or subscribe to our Free Weekly Email.