Black Country entrepreneur transforms garden workshop into £1.2 million garden furniture empire

Wolverhampton-based Matt Grainger founded MG Timber in 2017 after being forced to take a day off work due to bad weather, starting out building picnic tables in his back garden during downtime from his roofing job. 

Today, his business supplies prestigious brands including Mercedes-Benz and Drayton Manor - with products even making an appearance in Hollywood blockbuster Mamma Mia 2.

"I had an idea to build a picnic table when I was laid off for a day. That inspired me to build a workshop in the back garden and list them on eBay," he said.

"The woodworking generated very little profit initially and whatever it made got reinvested into tools.

"In 2021, we experimented with different products and by 2022 our workbenches really took off.”

What started as a small side project soon became a full-fledged operation. The company now operates from a 400-square-metre facility, employing eleven staff during peak seasons.

However, the journey wasn’t always smooth. Grainger had to juggle his roofing job to fund the business in the early days.

A pivotal moment came when Grainger took a significant financial gamble purchasing £16,000 worth of premium Swedish redwood.

The gamble paid off, resulting in the company securing high-profile contracts and significantly boosting its reputation.

MG Timber's growth trajectory is impressive. From modest sales of £30,000 in 2017 to £80,000 in 2018, the company skyrocketed to £400,000 by 2020 and has now reached £1.2 million in 2024. Looking ahead, the company plans to expand into international markets, with France on the horizon for 2025 following successful trials.

"Our goal is to turn over £1.5 million in 2025," added Matt. 

"We’ve recently released three new products: bin stores, eight-seater round picnic tables and eight-seater square picnic tables."