When Power Sheds director and co-founder Jack Sutcliffe told TTJ this time last year that his company would start making log cabins in 2021, he was as good as his word.
“We launched log cabins in December 2021 and they are now available to view on show sites at a number of our retail partner’s stores,” said Mr Sutcliffe, adding that he expects to produce around 1,000 log cabins this year (around £5m in revenue).
Having leased an additional 48,000ft2 of space for its shed (and summerhouse) production last year, the cabins are manufactured in Power Sheds’ original 10,000ft2 factory.
“The log cabin manufacturing facility is relatively small for what we need, so we are already looking for a new home for them within the next 12 months,” said Mr Sutcliffe.
The rationale for branching out from sheds into log cabins was the increasing interest in home and garden office spaces during the pandemic.
“We have experience of manufacturing these before so we know the industry and, of course, there is growing demand for additional working space at home,” said Mr Sutcliffe. “We have seen a huge rise in the past two years of garden offices, but these are generally glorified / insulated garden sheds. However, there haven’t really been any new UK log cabin manufacturers and so this is an industry and product which is still fairly unknown and unbranded.
“We have created a small range initially in order to avoid being too busy, too quickly. However, we have made a higher quality log cabin than you would generally find on the market. For example, the log cabins come with EPDM rubber roofing (instead of standard felt). Based on the sales we received in January (generally a quiet time of the year and we haven’t properly begun marketing yet) it bodes well for the future.”
Initially – and as with its range of sheds – Power Sheds has kept to a simple business model, with only two styles available (the Power Apex and the Power Pent), although there are many possible permutations when it comes to the positioning of doors and windows.
“The log cabin is a shell but with 44mm logs, so it doesn’t really need insulation,” said Mr Sutcliffe. “Customers can add their own lighting and electricity if they want to, depending on what purpose they want the cabin to serve. We have already seen customers turn their log cabins into various uses such as bars or gyms.”
