Member Article

Hull SME invests five figure sum in expanding their premises

Hull outdoor company Shade Zone has invested a five figure sum in expanding its premises on Citadel Way.

Shade Zone, which designs, supplies and installs bespoke outdoor solutions, will use the development to showcase its range of commercial and residential awnings, canopies, pavilions and parasols.

The showroom, which is the first of its kind in East Yorkshire, will also feature the Algarve canopy –based on an innovative rotating blade system – of which Shade Zone is one of Europe’s leading suppliers.

Shade Zone’s client list including Caffé Nero, tapas restaurant chain La Tasca, service station operator Moto and global fast food chain McDonalds, as well as many local companies such as Jazz Bar and Nu Bar in Hull.

The company also provides cycle shelters, covered walkways and external window blinds for schools, offering sun protection to pupils during lesson times and has worked with Oldfleet Primary, Mountbatten Primary, Pickering school locally and many others nationally.

Managing director Andy Wigglesworth, who established the company his bedroom in 2007, said the new showroom had been months in the planning and he was pleased to finally see it come to fruition.

Based on Citadel Trade Estate in east Hull, it opened to the public at the beginning of May.

Andy said: “I set the business up seven years ago on the back of the smoking ban because I knew pubs and cafes would have to provide outdoor areas for their customers to smoke in and I could provide the solution.

“We grew quite quickly and diversified into a range of markets including shops, cafes and schools. Now we are one of the UK’s leading suppliers of outdoor solutions with global chains among our clients, providing project management, design and product installation across the UK and Europe.”

He added that trading internationally had meant there had been little need for a showroom until recently but it now made sense as demand for their products was growing across Yorkshire.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .