One of the UK’s leading manufacturers of wooden garden and outdoor buildings is creating a £4.5m base and bringing over 60 new jobs to South Tyneside.
Family-owned Dunster House, which has manufacturing, distribution and sales operations across the UK and sister companies in Europe, has purchased a nine-acre site in Hebburn at which it will build a variety of timber garden buildings, from sheds to log cabins.
The business is headquartered in Bedford and has 20 sites and 35 manufacturing and branch units from northern Scotland to southern England. It bought the Hebburn plant in November and is working with South Tyneside Council to recruit people from the borough for new roles in the factory.
Managing Director, Chris Murphy, said:
“Dunster House is a business that’s all about people – creating this base in South Tyneside and providing good jobs for local people is great for both our company and for Hebburn.
“We want to create opportunities for people who have found themselves excluded from the jobs market and we are especially passionate about the work we do to create employment for Armed Forces veterans, who tend to have the exact skills required to succeed in our sector.”
Dunster House and its sister businesses employ over 1,000 people across the UK and Europe and has already invested in new machinery and manpower to help it hit the ground running in Hebburn. With top quality timber imported from Scandinavia, the firm has purchased a leading-edge pressure treatment machine, which infuses timber with preservatives to protect it against rot, decay and insects, and a large industrial kiln to remove all moisture from the wood enhancing its longevity.
“We will invest around £4.5m in the new plant,” added Chris. “It’s a sizeable sum but demonstrates the belief we have in the area and how integral it will be to the company as we continue to grow.
“For more than 30 years we’ve proudly done things differently. As a family-run business we make decisions quickly and move forward on projects at pace. We’d been looking for property on Tyneside for quite some time so when the opportunity to secure this site presented itself – so close to our Stockton base – we didn’t hang about.”
The ethos of “business for good” runs through Dunster House. Chris, who served in the British Army for four years, firmly believes that the role of a responsible business is creating opportunity for people and to “give something back”.
Dunster House supplies sanitation solutions to OXFAM and UNICEF as part of our social responsibilities, Chris bought a farm in Wales that he donated to veterans’ charity “Woody’s Lodge” and started a military medals and book shop in Bedford from which all profit is channelled towards Armed Forces charities. He also has a flat currently lets free of charge to Ukrainian refugees.
“The best part of this job is helping people – seeing someone’s face change when you tell them they have the job,” added Chris. “The way they light-up and you can tell that they can’t wait to get out of the interview to call their wife or parents – it’s amazing.
“We’re a business and here to make money and succeed, but what’s the point of success if you can’t share it with others? We do that by creating jobs, rewarding dedication and hard work and by supporting people that sometimes require a little more help to get that all important job.”
Chris and wife Pamela started Dunster House in 1994, growing it to have operations in Belford, Cumbernauld, Liverpool, Stockton, Scunthorpe, Estonia, Poland and Hungary to name just a few. It employs over 1,000 people. They run it with sons and fellow owners, Alexander and Andrew.