NEW ECO FRIENDLY OFFICE HUB STARTS TO TAKE SHAPE FOR KINROSS BASED WEBSTER GROUP
The cutting edge, eco friendly office Headquarters being built by the Kinross-based Webster Group to house all its business interests in the one location, is emerging, with foundation block work currently going in at the site at Bridgend Industrial Estate.
Glulam timber structure will be next, to create a development containing not just the new office building, with sloping sedum roof and large glass fronted pavilion, but ten eco friendly office pods available for rent, to be marketed under the name Webster Spaces.Designed and built to be of maximum energy efficiency, they will include pitched triangular sedum roofs and frontages created entirely of glass, to let in an abundance of natural light.
Also to be sited at the new hub are bee hives to produce honey for another of Webster Group’s off-shoot businesses, Webster Honey, started by young entrepreneur Daniel Webster and his partner, Emily Kate McDonnell in 2016.
Daniel Webster also includes a hot air ballooning company – Webster Adventures – in his portfolio – alongside self storage firm, Webster Storage, contracting division Webster Developments, and luxury housebuilding brand Webster Homes.
Said Daniel Webster: “We’re really excited that things are moving swiftly on site now here at Bridgend Industrial Estate, and that local people can now see what we are starting to create. For me to be building this business hub in my home town, which will offer small fledgling businesses, young entrepreneurs and creative partnerships, the opportunity to secure sustainable business premises, and to be housing beehives at the same location, is absolutely fantastic. We’re all confident that it’s the right move for the Webster Group, bringing all our different businesses under one roof.”
“We’ve been building up excitement for months, with our bright orange wrapping – our corporate colour of choice – right round the site, featuring banners with hashtags such as #staycurious,” said Daniel.
“We’re sure our new office residents will enjoy having the beehives around them, it’s certainly a bit different for an office complex,” he added.
As he explained, honey is an eco friendly and sustainable product. “It’s obviously seasonal, as the bees have to produce it, but when we have it for sale, it is retailed in farm shops and deli’s in the area and does very well indeed.”
“On a personal level, everything is in the one location for me, so I can keep an eye on the storage firm just down the road, and all other interests as all divisions grow,” said Daniel.
Having begun trading in 2014 with only twelve self storage units on Kinross High Street, Webster Storage moved to premises at Bridgend Industrial Estate in 2017, offering forty six units for personal and business customers. The company is unique in offering flexible terms, including weekly lets. Following obtaining planning permission for more units last year, another twenty are now at the site.
Many firms from all over Scotland and the North of England use the storage units as a distribution hub, depositing and collecting stock which is then transported all around the country. The development enjoys a fantastic location, just minutes from the M90 motorway.
“Webster Storage is doing really well, with twenty new units letting very swiftly indeed.”
Daniel explained that the move into self storage came about when he was developing property throughout Fife, and customers were starting to ask him about flexible short term storage to house belongings until their new properties were ready.
“There wasn’t much in the area to satisfy this demand and so I started with the twelve units in the High Street, which were quickly full,” he said. “It was then I realised there was also demand for longer lets, and for business customers too, as by this time many local firms had started to contact me, asking for units for longer term use. I decided to go for it and secured the site at Bridgend. I figured that flexible terms to suit customers would be far more desirable than what was available, and so there was no ties to monthly contracts, as many other companies insisted upon.”
“Bridgend Industrial Estate is the ideal location for the self storage company, as there are so many other businesses all around it, and it offers speedy transport links in and out,” added Daniel. “As I now spend so much time here it also made sense to make this the location for the custom designed, eco friendly head office.”
www.webstergroup.co.uk/webster-honey-bee-webster/
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