MULTI-award-winning kitchen firm Silver Birch Interiors has opened its first ever showroom in Hamilton, following renting space in Glasgow these past five years.
Business owner Alan MacGregor started the company in 2014 after graduating from Royal Bank of Scotland’s Entrepreneur Accelerator programme. The company has since grown from a self-run retail operation to a £1.2 million a year turnover business which now employs six full-time members of staff who are supported with an additional eight trades people on a monthly basis.
Following this accelerated growth, Alan has now invested profit from the business and more into the purchase of a new luxury show room on Bothwell Road in Hamilton. The grade II listed building has been transformed into a space to showcase the work that Alan and the Silver Birch Interiors team can deliver, as well as provide much needed office and sales space for his growing team.
The showroom opened this month and will help drive forward growth plans which will see the business double in size over the next 24 months. Alan also plans to employ an additional three people over the next year and recruitment is already underway for some of these roles.
Alan has more than 12 years of kitchen installation and industry experience working on bespoke residential projects, high profile clients and firms like CALA Homes.
Realising he had the ability and drive to go it alone, he quit his job and joined the Entrepreneurial Spark, powered by Royal Bank accelerator programme to pursue the idea of setting up his own business.
During his time on the programme in 2014 he secured a showroom space, £25,000 worth of funding from The Princes Trust and he was named as the Most Accelerated Business that year. In 2017 and 2018 Silver Birch Interiors was awarded Scotland’s Best Kitchen Company by the Scottish Home Improvement awards.
Alan said: “I always knew this was what I wanted to do and I love helping customers make their dream homes a reality. The growth of Silver Birch Interiors has been phenomenal and I can’t believe than in just five years we are now in a position to open our new owned space. This will allow us to reduce overheads and ensure we showcase our designs and work in the best way possible, helping drive increases in sales. Being a part of The Royal Bank of Scotland’s Entrepreneur Accelerator programme gave me the kick start I needed to set up my business and being around like-minded entrepreneurs and having access to support and advice from the bank’s mentors and finance experts, helped me to focus my growth plans.
Gordon Merrylees, Managing Director of Entrepreneurship at Royal Bank of Scotland, said: “Alan is a shining example of the businesses who come through our accelerator programme and take advantage of the wrap-around support available to start, Scale and succeed. Alan’s ambitions for Silver Birch Interiors over the next few years, will help create new jobs, bring new investment and create value to the local economy. It’s been an honour to play just a small part and we wish Alan and the team the best of luck as they progress their growth plans and truly scale the business.”
