The Taylors Journey May 2012 – May 2015.

It is now just over three years since we took over the running of this company.

The previous owners of the business had changed their focus, wishing to explore new avenues and made the heart wrenching decision to sell Taylors Garden Buildings on. We purchased the website in May 2012 and immediately set about catching up on deliveries which had unfortunately been set back by a few days due to the handover.

The early days were very fraught to say the least, the phones were literally ringing off of the hook with customers chasing orders (news of the change over had spread very quickly and many people were now panicking that they had lost their money and would not be getting the items they ordered). The first thing we had to do was to contact all of our customers to inform them of the situation and give them some peace of mind. Some people requested to have their money refunded while a vast majority were happy to continue with the order they had made and wait just a little longer for the delivery to take place.

It was a stressful time for all in the Taylors office, starting a brand new job is never easy but to literally hit the ground running is even less so. Gradually we began to make progress and get ourselves caught up. We are pleased to say that all orders got sorted out  and, thanks to all of the patience and support from our customer base, we were soon able to move forward and begin doing what we had aimed at doing in the first place – selling garden buildings.

This was where it started getting exciting, with the old orders sorted and completed we could now focus on moving the business forward and start to repair the Taylors name in the marketplace.

Ready Built Shed Range

Ready Built Shed Range

One of the first big moves we made was securing a contract with a very large shed manufacturer who would deliver and install their garden buildings all for one price. This is of course UK Garden Buildings, they are the suppliers of our Ready Built range which has gone from strength to strength and is now one of our biggest selling lines.

Woodmeadow Garden Centre

Woodmeadow Garden Centre

The second major step we took was to purchase a local garden centre. Woodmeadow had been trading since the early 1970s and the previous owner had decided to move on to a new chapter in life. This came at a perfect time for us, it was obviously meant to be! With the purchase of Woodmeadow we now had a display site to showcase some of the buildings, this not only made us a more physical presence but it also enabled us to offer a more personal service by allowing us to meet our customers face to face.

Since those early days Taylors has continued to grow and now, three years later, we have revived the Taylors name and once again become a more prominent force on the internet.  We have a much bigger team  now too, some people have come and gone down the years, some have moved to different areas of the business while others have decided on a different career path, but we now have a team that is bigger and better than it has ever been!

Due to the increase in staff we re-located our sales office to bigger premises, this was our third big step in the growth of our business and happened in July 2013.

Thanks to our social media platforms (Facebook in particular) we have had a lot of positive feedback from our customers – some of those customers by the way were with us in the beginning and have stuck by us since then.

A huge thank you to them for giving us the chance to grow and standing by us!

In the past three years we have managed successfully to breathe fresh new life in to an ailing business and restore it to former glories, we have done the same to a local garden centre which has seen a dramatic increase in sales and now has a solid loyal customer base.

Movember 2012

Movember 2012

We even managed to do our bit for charity too, long term followers of our blog will remember that we did Movember in 2012 and raised over £1600.00!!

We have many plans for the future which will be mentioned on here as and when they happen – there are still exciting times ahead so watch this space!!

Ready Built Range

One of the most popular ranges on the Taylors website is our Ready Built Shed Range. With 34 categories and over 530 individual items available, this is also our largest with buildings ranging in sizes right up to 24’x14′.

All of the buildings in this range, which also includes Summerhouses and  Pet Houses are manufactured to the highest standard using redwood pine and can be painted a colour of your choice to suit your environment and personality.

Security Apex

Security Apex 6×4

There is a variety of optional extras available to help you personalise your building and make it more secure if need be. If security may be an issue where your shed is to be located, toughened glass is a definite must as it can help deter criminals and other undesirables.

There are also padlocks available with this range to increase security even more.

 

Heavy Duty Wooden Garage

Heavy Duty Wooden Garage

If you intend using your building for storage of heavier items such as ride on mowers or other such machinery then how about a heavy duty floor? The standard floor that is supplied with these buildings is 12mm which is upgradable to the heavy duty version of 18mm.  Heavy duty felt is another option if your shed / garage is to be located in a position where the elements can be extreme (i.e. windy areas).

Other extras to this range are different door positions and styles (you can go for double doors or stable doors on many models) and also windows that can either be fixed or opened. These doors and windows can also be supplied with decorative antique styled hinges.

Floor Bearers

Floor bearers are highly recommended

A very handy extra with all of these buildings are floor bearers. Floor bearers are basically a framework of wood which go under the building and physically lift it up off of the ground. This allows air to circulate underneath and prevent damp coming up through the floor of your building.  All of the extras are down to the choice of the buyer but we do heartily recommend these bearers as they protect the most vulnerable part of your building – the floor.

Ready Built Shed Range

Ready Built Delivery Zones

 

The Ready Built range are delivered and built for you on the same day, this is included in the price and applies to anyone living in the green area on the map which appears at the bottom of each listing. There will be an extra charge for anyone in the blue zone but this still represents great value for money.

 

 

We have a selection of these buildings on display at our garden centre so the next time you are in the area why not pop in and take a look?

 

 

 

The Results Are In!!

The Results Are In!!

 Over the past week or so the team at Taylors have been pondering, discussing and finally voting for our favourite buildings from three of our main categories. Out of our Summerhouses, Log Cabins and Sheds we have finally come to our top three.

Our candidates for the top garden shed were The Supreme Apex, The Rowlinson Potting Shed and The Supreme Workshop…

Our Top Three

The candidates

These were all selected to be in the top three by measuring their value for money, customer feedback, quality and supplier relations and we are pleased to announce that our winner is….

The Supreme Workshop

Supreme Workshop

Our Winner!!

This building claims the best shed crown mainly due to its sturdy construction and versatility which is helped by the double doors which means that this building can be used to store larger items such as ride on mowers and other large garden machinery. That is assuming of course you are using it for storage, it could be used as a workshop or even a games room if you so wished.

Our top three summerhouses in the running for top spot were the Popular Summerhouse, Prima Fifth Avenue and The Denby Summerhouse

The Top Three Summerhouses

Our Top Three Summerhouses

By measuring their value for money, customer feedback, quality and supplier relations as before we are pleased to announce that our winner is….

The Denby Summerhouse

The Denby Summerhouse

The Denby is our champion!

The Denby was a clear winner for us by a substantial margin, this beast of a summerhouse is a real stand out among our range and some of the feedback we have had from our customers shows that you all feel the same about this magnificent building too!

Our final ballot was for our favourite Log Cabin, once again using the same format as the previous two polls, we came up with our winner. Our candidates were the Daniel Log Cabin, The Wolfgang Log Cabin and the Barbeque Hut.

Our Best Log Cabins

A hard choice to make

We struggled a bit with this as we could not reach an agreement straight away between two of them. After a few heated debates and a re-vote we concluded that our winner for best log cabin had to be…

The Daniel Log Cabin

The Daniel Log cabin

Our eventual winner

One of the best sellers in our entire range, not to mention all of our ranges full stop, The Daniel
was chosen due to its sturdy construction. Another factor which influenced the choice was that we use one of these very buildings as an office in our garden centre, you can see it next to the tills by the exit. This cabin has given us many years of good service and we have always been very fond of it!

The final stage of our election was to decide between our three champions and select what we consider to be the best of the best!  We had the impossible task of selecting just one to be the Taylors Garden Buildings champion for summer 2015.

Yet again we deliberated, pondered and generally racked our brains to make the final big decision, after what seemed like an eternity we had to go with a coalition. It was either that or have a mini riot in our office.

Ladies and gentleman, our joint winners for best Taylors Garden Buildings product of summer 2015 are

The Denby and the Daniel

Our two worthy joint winners are, for the purposes of this vote, going to henceforth be known as The Danby-

THE DANBY

The winners!!

Have you voted yet? We have…

So it might be difficult to avoid the general election and party political broadcasts and if you’re like us and still not sure which way to go with your vote, we thought we would change the subject completely and do our own vote (just for fun), so as we sell garden buildings we each decided which was our favourite.

The buildings were chosen on an all around best building so when making my choices I considered the shed quality, the standard features and benefits, the supplier support and aftersales, price, value and delivery lead time.

Sheds

Voted best sheds 2015

These are my choice of garden sheds.
1. Supreme Apex Shed
2. Rowlinson Potting Shed
3. Supreme Workshop

The Supreme Apex Shed – is a good quality shed which also includes assembly within the price so keep that in mind when comparing the prices. The shed comes as standard with two diagonal cross supports on each wall built into the frame work helping maintain the rigidity of the shed with a 3ft opening door fully framed, ledge and Supreme Apexbraced this will help prevent the door from twisting, warping and over time dropping out of shape. this range of garden buildings is made with shiplap tongue and grooved timber and has a tongue and grooved roof and floor so no chip board, sterling or OSB. I like this range of sheds as they are not just good quality and include assembly but they have a slightly larger than average eaves height as I am 6ft it is nice to be able to stand up straight all through the building.

Potting Shed

The Rowlinson Potting Shed – a nice alternative to the traditional looking shed with the integral wooden growing space it makes not only for an attractive feature but a completely functional space, why not grow your own and not everyone wants both a greenhouse and a shed or summerhouse so why not get all three in one with this stylish design potting shed.

                               The Supreme Workshop –  Supreme Workshop      This was an easy choice a larger and superior version of the supreme apex so all of the above but available in larger sizes and has a double door as standard so for those who need the larger garden storage space or a decent workshop even a place to store the ride on mower or garden machines.

One man and his shed: Why the humble garden retreat could help men live longer

It’s long been cherished by men as a refuge to get on with some DIY, tackle a crossword, or even just for some peace and quiet away from the family. But now it would seem the humble garden shed has an even more valuable role – it could actually help men live longer, according to a health expert.

The therapeutic effects of pottering around doing odd jobs relieves stress, which lowers blood pressure, and even boosts self-esteem.

Haven: For many men it’s a welcome retreat, but a health expert believes the garden shed could be a life-saver

Leeds Metropolitan University’s Alan White – the first professor of men’s health – believes the effects could add years to a man’s life. He told the Telegraph: ‘Men find doing things relaxing and that in itself is good for their health. ‘There’s a sense of achievement that men get from starting a task and seeing it through to completion. It’s good for self-esteem.’

Professor White’s research is due to be published in the British Medical Journal .

Health experts are so convinced of the benefits that ‘men’s shed’ groups have sprung up in the UK – a place where men can meet and get on with some DIY. There are already 20 such groups – focusing mainly on the retired – up and down the country.

Pottering about: Men find completing tasks relaxing, which is good for their health, it has been claimed

Professor White believes because men feel so at ease in sheds that they are more likely to listen to home truths about their health. The concept of the sheds scheme came from Australia and it is being backed in this country by the Men’s Health Forum, as well as other voluntary organisations.

Peter Baker, chief executive of the charity, told the Telegraph: ‘I think they’ve caught the men’s imagination. Men like to potter. These are from a generation who, on a Sunday afternoon, like to pull apart a car and put it back together with a Haynes manual. ‘It is hoped the scheme will offer a comfortable environment for men to talk about any health issues they might be having.

Blog provided by dailymail.co.uk 2011

Lifetime Dual Entrance Storage Shed

Introducing the brand new all singing all dancing Lifetime 10x8ft dual entrance storage shed!

This fabulous new 10-foot wide Outdoor Storage Shed has several innovative features, including skylights to maximize natural lighting. They also include single-hinged double doors that open nearly 180 degrees, a slip-resistant polyethylene floor and low-maintenance, steel-reinforced construction.

Dimensions
  • Nominal size 10×8
  • Roof size 305x243cm
  • Base size 295x234cm
  • Overall height 244cm
  • Wall height 180cm
  • Weight 232kg
Standard features
  • 2 large skylights
  • 4 small skylights
  • 2 windows
  • HDPE floor

The Garden Shed. A poem about……sheds!

The Garden Shed
It was just a weathered garden shed,
In the shadow of a tree,
With faded boards and sagging door,
But a wonderment to me. Inside upon the wooden floor,
Were garden tools and things,
The smell of leaves when they are dry,
Such memories they do bring.In days when I was but a child,
We’d visit Uncle George,
And he would give me Blackjack Gum,
A friendship we would forge.

And just outside his garden shed,
Was a fish pond with a bridge,
I’d love to relive all those days,
Oh, the things I wouldn’t give!

That time has passed, I’m older now,
But this one thing I know,
I’ll cherish all those childhood days,
As my dark hair turns to snow.

by David Ronald Bruce Pekrul

Fred’s Shed. A poem about sheds

Fred’s shed

A Man’s home is his Castle
which you may have heard or read
but to Fred the place he loves the most
is his very own Garden Shed.
This structure he made from wood
is where he likes to be
inside he can set the World to right
over a sandwich and a mug of tea.
Yes his Shed is looking a bit ramshackle
and luxurious it definitely ain’t
what with the roof needing repairing
not to mention a good old lick of paint.
But Fred’s shed is his sanctum
where he goes to get some space
inside it’s like a small Bedsit
with a comfy chair and a Bookcase.
So if you don’t see him in his House
and think could old Fred even be dead?
don’t worry he’s alive and well
he’s probably moved into his beloved Shed!

Kevin Halls