A man who started a business in his parent's shed has enjoyed massive success.
Ashley Smith, from Ormskirk, started his business in 2009, initially based in a small shed at his parent's house, now the 43-year-old has been granted a prestigious award for his company by King Charles.
The newly renamed King’s Award for Enterprise celebrates outstanding achievements by UK businesses and is internationally recognised. The 2023 awardees were officially announced on April 21, marking the late Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday.
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Dad-of-two Ashley's company, GaraDry, will be the first to receive the award under its new names. GaraDry designs, manufactures, and sells the world’s largest range of threshold seals for residential garage doors and commercial doors.
Ashley said he started the company with £1,000 in inheritance. The 43-year-old said: "The fact I started the business with a £1,000 inheritance from my uncle proves that a large amount of funding is not always needed to start a business and to be successful.
“Drive and determination is often equally, if not more important. I hope this encourages other entrepreneurs to aim high even if they might only have limited resources to start with. I started the business from my mother’s home in Ainsdale and used the shed and garage as my stockroom and my bedroom as my office. I’m thankful to my Mum for supporting me during that early phase."
The company is actively recruiting, employs 11 people, and has grown its sales dramatically in the last three years. Overseas sales now account for 33% of its UK business. It now exports its range of products to more than 40 countries including most European countries and as far away as Australia.
GaraDry opened a subsidiary in the USA in 2017 (GaraDry LLC), to handle strong interest from Americans in the products and launched a fulfilment centre in Tennessee to ship transatlantic orders quickly.
Ashley added: "We’re all truly humbled by this award and hope it can inspire other people to pursue their business dreams.
“We are excited about the future. We will continue to work hard and expand geographically and create new jobs here in Lancashire. We also have a new innovative product range which is under development which we hope to bring to market this year.”
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