Entrepreneur moves coatings startup to new Hull business park

A vehicle restoration and coatings startup has become the first arrival at a business park in Hull which is a former motor sales and spares site.

Entrepreneur Jacob Frayne initially started out using a priming, painting and dipping process to customise items as a hobby. It became a job when he was inundated with work from family and friends, and now Jacob has unveiled expansion plans as director of Modified Coatings Limited.

He said: “I started the business and then I brought in a friend who lost his job at just the right time! We hope to hire someone else very soon and then maybe add a couple more people during the next year.

“The work we do means anyone can put their own design on almost any item. That enables us to support other people who want to set up their own businesses recycling and re-designing anything from household items to bikes, cars and furniture.

“But our main target area is vehicle leasing. Our techniques don’t damage the paintwork at all, which is perfect for businesses in that sector.”

Jacob has agreed a five-year lease for a unit of nearly 1,900 square feet at Tower House Lane Business Park, which was only completed in the last few months after conversion from a motor sales and spares business by the Motorhog group.

He added: “When I started I was basically working from a shed at home and we were falling over all the kit that people brought in for coating. We even had people sending bike parts from London and now we’ve got a furniture contract in the pipeline for a business in Soho.

“We’ve got much more space and great quality premises so we can venture into other products, including vinyl wraps for vehicle leasing. How we expand depends on the work flow at the new premises, but the new environment is much more professional and that should help us secure some proper contracts.

“We’re really grateful to Garness Jones for helping us get off the ground. The two of us are only 22 and we were finding it really difficult to get finance but Garness Jones came up with really flexible terms.”

Dan Clinch, surveyor at Garness Jones, commented: “The site also has the flexibility to accommodate larger businesses by merging the units which start at 1,566 square feet and can expand up to 14,810 square feet.

“The location is a great advantage, particularly for the renewables sector given the proximity to the Green Port Hull development, but it is the quality of the facilities which really gives the site wider appeal.

“It needed a significant investment to develop the site and Motorhog were able to secure investment from the European Regional Development Fund. It would have been difficult to develop something of this scale and quality without the ERDF grant, which enabled Motorhog to ensure this site is a higher specification than anything else in this area of the market.”

Looking to promote your product/service to SME businesses in your region? Find out how Bdaily can help →