Business Secretary backs working from home

An interesting interview in the Daily Telegraph reveals that the Secretary of State for Business and Trade and President of the Board of Trade, Jonathan Reynolds, is a very keen supporter of working from home. This is quite a change from the noises coming out of the Tory governments of the last decade or so, often ridiculing working from home.

Reynolds weighed in against what he called a “culture of presenteeism", made the point that working from home gave British business a wider pool of talent to choose from, and championed working from home in his own government department. 

It follows recent research from Zoom which, unsurprisingly but still importantly, indicated that hybrid workong is becoming the preferred working style worldwide, with more than 80% of employees saying that they feel more productive in hybrid/remote environments than in-office/on-site settings as well as more connected to their teams/manager.

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Men's Shed of the Year Awards and Diageo alcohol campaign

Our various Men's Sheds organisations are as busy, busy, busy as ever. In Scotland, there's not much time left to vote in the ‘Scottish Men’s Shed of the Year’ 2024 Awards which "recognise, reward and promote the contribution Men’s Sheds make and the huge life-changing impact that they are having on the people of Scotland and in our communities". Winners announced October 4 and you can still vote here until September 15.

Meanwhile, Diageo has begun an 18-month pilot project with the UK Men’s Sheds Association, to co-develop a programme of activity to encourage alcohol moderation. Managing director of Diageo Great Britain Nuno Teles, said: “By partnering together we aim to expand their impactful work by improving men’s wellbeing and raising awareness about alcohol moderation. Together, we want to empower individuals and create more connected communities. Having visited the Men’s Shed in Camden, I have seen the positive impact these spaces have in nurturing a sense of purpose and belonging within the community. It was a joy to meet the Shedders and discuss how we can collaborate to drive meaningful progress.”

Chief executive officer of UK Men’s Sheds, Charlie Bethel commented: “This programme will deliver a positive impact on Shedders, and I hope, the wider population, to provide a greater understanding of our relationship with alcohol and develop more positive social habits; particularly as we age."

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Malvern Garden Buildings offer a premium collection of garden buildings, displayed at 11 UK showsites.

Arctic Cabins into the finals of Family Business Awards

Congratulations to Arctic Cabins who have been shortlisted in the Family Business Awards which features a series of categories for businesses in the Midlands such as Sustainability, Property & Construction Excellence, Digital & Tech Innovation, Service Excellence, Young Director and Employer of the Year, as well as overall Family Business of the Year.

“The standard of entries has been exceptionally high this year and we are so pleased that so many family businesses have taken the time to showcase their achievements," said Charlotte Perkins, Group Managing Director of The Wilson Organisation which runs the awards. 

Nottingham-based Arctic Cabins are named as finalists in the Property & Construction Excellence section and the finalists' celebration event will be held on May 16 next year. If you'd like to vote, go to the awards page here for details.

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Friday Finery: Wrinkly, Rusty and Retro (video)

No apologies for returning to the winner of this year's Shed of the Year competition, Wayne Dauber's 'Wrinkly, Rusty and Retro' which was announced earlier this week. As an additional treat to the tremendous image above, here's a short video below of its design and construction.

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Goodbye to the Ladybird shed

Shedworking was a bit sad to hear from Helen Day who runs the remarkable website devoted to Ladybird books and their contributors Ladybird Fly Away Home that she is also moving to a new home and leaving her shed behind her.

We interviewed her on this site nearly a decade ago when we found out that she kept her collection in a secondhand shed bought from a local garden centre, co-incidentally just up the road from Shedworking HQ. She has written a nice farewell on her site which is well worth reading and where you'll find lots of marvellous photos, but here's a snippet:

My bookshed soon became my haven. Picture me with a big box of books to sort out, a steaming cup of tea and my music on shuffle. That was my happy place – where time stood still. And can you imagine what a blessing it was over lockdown?... But mostly it was a place where I was alone with my tea and my music and my head and my books. In wet weather it was a treat to put on the heater and the lights, make the tea and head down the path towards the orange glow from the window, for an hour or two of book therapy.

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Shed of the Year 2024 won by ‘Wrinkly, Rusty and Retro’

Wayne Dawber, an artist and school art technician from Crewe, has been crowned champion in this year’s Cuprinol Shed of the Year competition. His shed ‘Wrinkly, Rusty and Retro’ beat 160 other entrants to claim top spot after being voted king of the ‘Unexpected/Unique’ category by the general public, and selected as the winner by a judging panel.

This year’s victor built his winning shed by combining unusual and disregarded materials, such as corrugated metal from a torn-down stable roof, and windows from a recently demolished chapel. Most striking, however, is the colourful hand-painted vintage signs he has decorated the shed’s interior and exterior with, using paint to perfect a style he likes to call “industrial, ghost town chic".
 
Many of the mural paintings are from or inspired by 1950s magazine adverts, with the indoor walls embellished with old product labels and matchbox graphics. These vibrant paintings, alongside the weathered effect Wayne has given to the metal was done to bring texture and a sense of age to the shed, stylishly capturing the essence of mid-century design.
 
Wayne describes how the shed’s concept evolved to become the winner it is today: “The plan for the shed has always been for it to be a little hideaway for my wife and me. We love spending time in nature and watching the world go by from our garden. This shed gave us the perfect space to do that.
 
“As I began constructing the shed, I started to get a bit carried away. The finished product brings together everything I love to work with, from the rusty metal to the old wood, it’s feels very special to give all these old materials a new lease of life with a touch of paint, while still encapsulating that old-fashioned feel.”
   
Wayne is the first Cuprinol Shed of the Year winner to receive an overnight nature getaway as part of his prize, allowing him to indulge in his love of nature while being at the very heart of it. This is alongside £1,000 in cash, and £250 worth of Cuprinol product.
 
Founder and Head Judge of the competition, Andrew Wilcox, said: “As we near the 20th anniversary of the competition, it's astonishing to see the incredible new heights our entrants have been reaching year-on-year. At the peak of and just after the pandemic, we saw the revival of the pub shed and people getting inventive with their outdoor workspaces. This year, we’ve seen a real trend of pushing what’s possible with upcycling and getting bold with structures."

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Children's garden playroom: Children need sheds too

Back in the day we used to run a regularly irregular slot called Children Need Sheds Too. We felt it was time to bring it back and so here is a fine example, a 5m x 4m composite-clad garden playroom designed and built by Cosy Garden Rooms for Amy and Garreth in Manchester. Or to be more exact, for their two children (though they have squeezed in a sauna for use by the grown-ups).

"We have two children and live in a three-storey townhouse," said Amy. "so there's not enough downstairs living space. We needed somewhere for the children to play and store all their toys. We didn’t want them taking over the house, but we also didn’t want them to feel like they couldn’t play and arrange their toys as they wanted.

"It works perfectly for our family as a playroom. The house is tidy, we don’t have to worry about toys being everywhere. My son Harry puts his trophies and artwork in the room, basically anything he wants to show off, he proudly displays in here, it’s his room."

The plan is that the room will adjust to the family’s needs, transforming from a playroom to perhaps a teenage den, a study space, or a gym as their children grow.

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Malvern Garden Buildings offer a premium collection of garden buildings, displayed at 11 UK showsites.