Black Country entrepreneur Matt Grainger has turned a side hustle into a thriving £1.2m garden furniture business.
Matt, the founder and MD of MG Timber, started by building picnic tables in his back garden during downtime from his roofing job. Today, his business supplies brands including Mercedes-Benz and Drayton Manor, with products even making an appearance in Hollywood blockbuster Mamma Mia 2.
Matt says he founded MG Timber in 2017 after being forced to take a day off work due to bad weather: “I had an idea to build a picnic table when I was laid off for a day. This inspired me to build a workshop in the back garden and list them on eBay.”
What started as a side project soon became a fully fledged operation, and the company now operates from a 400 sqm facility, employing 11 staff during peak season.
However, the journey wasn’t always smooth. Matt had to juggle his roofing job to fund the business in the early days.
"The woodworking generated very little profit initially and whatever it made got reinvested into tools,” he explains.
A pivotal moment came when he took a significant financial gamble, purchasing £16,000 worth of premium Swedish redwood.
“Using tailored, furniture-grade Swedish redwood instead of the standard timber most competitors use was a big risk,” he admits – but the gamble paid off, resulting in the company securing high-profile contracts and significantly boosting its reputation.
Like many outdoor furniture businesses, MG Timber faced seasonal challenges, with minimal sales during the winter months. However, Matt adapted by diversifying his product range.
“In 2021, we experimented with different products, and by 2022 our workbenches really took off,” he says – and this strategy now ensures year-round production.
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 reached £1.2m in 2024. Looking ahead, the company plans to expand into international markets, with France on the horizon, following successful trials.
“Our goal is to turn over £1.5m in 2025," says Matt. “We’ve recently released three new products – bin stores, eight-seater round picnic tables and eight-seater square picnic tables.”
Matt also aims to purchase land to manage the entire production process, from raw timber to finished furniture.
“Manufacturing is such a hard business because growth demands so much in terms of machinery, storage and workspace,” he adds. “But the potential growth from these challenges makes it all worthwhile.”
With over 1400 positive customer reviews and an ever-expanding product range, MG Timber has proven that with determination, risk-taking and innovation, a simple garden workshop can grow into a multimillion-pound enterprise.
