Way back in 1991, my late father, Andrew Pole, and his two friends, John Ham and David Callow, rented a small industrial unit and established Avocet Engineering Services Ltd. A real-life rocket scientist, Andrew (alongside John and David) aimed to provide tooling and fixtures for use in trade and industry, especially within the science sector… think of your favourite sci-fi film and scale it down a little.

 

Then, with an Electronics and Business degree in hand, I joined the team in 1996 and was soon followed by my brother, Edward, in 2002 who had also acquired a degree, this time in industrial design.

 

The years went by, team members came and went and we found ourselves in the middle of the 2008 economic crash. Strapped for cash and in need of some more customers, we diversified the company and began to produce StackaStage - our very own portable slot-together staging system which is used in schools, village halls, cathedrals and concert halls all over the world. Originally designed to fill the needs of schools, StackaStage proved to be a success and is still a significant part of our business.

 

Time rolled on and we got stuck in the mud of 2020 (sigh). With the temporary extinction of live entertainment haunting our now very quiet staging business, we were forced to find some new ideas. With millions of us forced to work from home and a factory full of CNC woodworking machines, Edward and I  realised that there was an opportunity to create modular, prefabricated buildings for use as home offices so we devised a factory-made building system we could offer to the public. Armed with a new idea and even a few customers, we’d found our new thing.

 

Banwell Garden Buildings was officially launched at the start of 2021 and we’ve been delighted by how positively we have been received.

 

We’re still a small company and take a hands-on approach to any project so you’ll most likely talk to me if you get in touch!

 

Laurence Pole

 

(Director)