The Westbury company originated 25 years ago when Jonathan Hey, a young builder, rebuilt a second-hand conservatory for a friend of the family. He saw an opportunity to produce conservatories at a higher quality and faster rate than the competition, and Westbury Conservatories was born.
Fast forward to 2011 and the traditional fully-glazed conservatory was in decline, because of changing consumer tastes. However, the demand for more functional and versatile orangeries and garden rooms was on the increase and this heralded a slight change in direction and brand, and brought with it a name change to Westbury Garden Rooms.
The brand also expanded into the luxury windows and doors market with Westbury Windows & Joinery, using the same employees and facilities.
Over the years, the number of enquiries and sales has continued to grow as the value of a garden room as a long-term asset to the house has been realised by consumers and Westbury has grown into a multi-million pound turnover business, employing more than 50 people.
On average Westbury Garden Rooms completes around 50-60 projects per year, ranging from smaller "suburban" installations to large orangeries and pool houses.
In 2012 major investment saw Westbury move to a new premises with offices, workshop and showrooms in South Woodham Ferrers, in Essex. As part of that investment it signed up to the government’s Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) when it replaced its four gas boilers with a single biomass boiler.
Other than the aluminium cappings on the roofs, Westbury’s products are made exclusively from timber and, as such, there is a ready supply of wood waste to fuel the new boiler, which supplies heat and hot water to all of the company’s facilities. This has dramatically cut energy bills and transport and skip costs, as well as demonstrated a positive green message which, Westbury believes, is vital for the industry.
This green message is advocated throughout all of Westbury’s work, with 85% of its timber coming from sustainable sources in Europe and all of its suppliers having FSC certification.
Redwood is the predominant material used, with hardwood being reserved for areas of the building most exposed to both rain and sun, such as window cills. The company has also begun using Accoya modified timber.
Westbury works with a wide range of professionals from designers to architects and builders and employs a full-time team of carpenters, bricklayers, ground workers and electricians to ensure its more complex projects reach the highest standards.
Each project is tailor made and customers are involved from the initial consultation and design of the project, right through to the finished result.
To coincide with its rebrand, and to acknowledge changing consumer habits, Westbury completely redesigned its website (www.westburygardenrooms.com). The site now features hundreds of images and a huge selection of case studies, with the intention of assisting customers in visualising their own projects.
A strong environmental policy and high quality products, combined with a close relationship with the customer have led to Westbury celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. As with many other businesses, the global recession did have an impact – but the company says it’s now ahead of the curve and seeing a resurgence in interest.
"Running a successful business isn’t about counting the money in the till, it’s about looking at the detail to improve and becoming more efficient as you go," said Jonathan Hey. "Service is key, and testament to that is much of our work comes from recommendation."
