A man who started a business in his parents’ barn achieved great success.
Ashley Smith, from Ormskirk, started her business in 2009, initially based on a small barn at his parents’ house, now the 43-year-old has been awarded an award by King Charles prestigious award for his company.
The newly renamed King’s Award for Enterprise honors the outstanding achievements of UK businesses and is internationally recognized. The 2023 awardees were officially announced on April 21, marking the birthday of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
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Father-of-two Ashley’s company, GaraDry, will be the first to receive the award under the new name. GaraDry designs, manufactures and sells the world’s largest range of sill seals for garage doors and commercial doors.
Ashley said he founded the company with an inheritance of £1,000. The 43-year-old said: “The fact that I started my business with a £1,000 inheritance from my uncle proves that it doesn’t always take a huge amount of money to start a business and be successful.
“Motivation and determination are often equal, if not more important. I hope this encourages other entrepreneurs to aim high even if they may only have limited resources to get started. I started the business from my mother’s house in Ainsdale and used the warehouse and garage as a storage room and the bedroom as an office. I am very grateful to my mother for supporting me in that early stage.”
The company is actively hiring and employing 11 people and has grown its sales significantly over the past three years. Overseas sales now account for 33% of UK business. It currently exports its wide range of products to more than 40 countries including most of Europe and as far as Australia.
GaraDry opened a U.S. subsidiary in 2017 (GaraDry LLC), to handle the strong American interest in products, and opened a fulfillment center in Tennessee to ship orders. transatlantic cargo quickly.
Ashley added: “We are all really humbled by this award and hope it can inspire others to follow their entrepreneurial dreams.
“We are very excited about the future. We will continue to work hard and expand geographically and create new jobs in Lancashire. We also have a range of innovative new products in development that we hope to bring to market this year.”
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