Garden shed-based firms 'made an average of £76.5k last year'

17:12:20 2nd December 2010

Businesses that are run from garden sheds in the UK made and average of £76,449 in the last financial year, a survey has revealed.

More than 80,000 people work from garden sheds and outbuildings across the nation, the website that conducted the research, shedworking.co.uk, claims.

Some 61.3 per cent of shed-based businesses are run by sole traders and 32.3 per cent employ between two and five workers.
More than one in five shed workers said that they expect their businesses to grow by more than 20 per cent this year.

Expert Alex Johnson, author of the book Shedworking, predicted that the shed economy will "soar" over the next ten years.
"Britain's back gardens may become as revolutionary as the industrial canal system, sitting behind our urban and suburban frontages and powering our economy in previously unimagined ways," he said.

Last month, a shed located in San Francisco was recognised at the American Society of Landscape Architects 2010 Professional Awards after it was transformed into a fully-functional art studio.