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IN the first week in his new premises Gareth Gibson took 48 orders for TV feature walls. It is a sign of how much his company has grown since he set it up almost four years ago.
Unlike many other businesses, the pandemic actually gave Mr Gibson’s a boost as people were unable to spend their income on holidays and chose instead to improve the look of their homes.
An experienced TV engineer, Mr Gibson decided to start Bluechip because many homeowners want to hang their widescreen TVs on their walls and make it the focus of their living space.
His designs proved so popular that the company now employs 26 workers, having started with just Mr Gibson and one joiner.
They now install up to 16 feature walls each week and also have a contract to install fibre optic broadband in flats in the Glasgow area.
At the beginning, the business was operating from a unit belonging to Mr Gibson’s brother in Hillington, then moved to Paisley this summer when premises run by CoVault came up.
Offering easy access to the M8 motorway, the new light industrial units are premium business spaces which can be rented at flexible monthly rates with no long-term commitments, recognising that company needs can change rapidly.
Bluechip installs high-end TV feature walls
“I’ve got a few more vans on the road now and I thought the CoVault premises looked perfect for us and they are,” said Mr Gibson.
“We have 2000 square feet and we use half for the yard and half for the showroom so customers can come and view all the feature walls we do. They are all bespoke. It is whatever the customer wants.”
Initially when people first wanted to hang their TVs on their walls, some were reluctant to fix them above their electric fires in case the heat damaged them.
“Electric fires used to blow the heat up but now they blow it down and out so they don’t affect the TV,” explained Mr Gibson.
“We put the fire on the wall then build a frame for the TV and fit it into the slot above the fire.
“We build the frame to the dimensions the customer wants. We have got a lot of good reviews on Trustpilot so that’s where we get a lot of our jobs.”
Mr Gibson was given the keys to the new McFarlane Street CoVault premises on July 3 then spent several weeks kitting out the premises.
“It was just a plain unit but now we have a lot of different displays and customers can pick out what they want so it is working out really well,” he said.
A special offer of a discount of £200 helped boost the bookings in the first week and while they have slowed down slightly since then, orders are still coming in.
“We are quite good at social media so we are still getting jobs on Facebook and Instagram as well,” Mr Gibson said.
Panelling on the feature walls is proving popular, as are “floating” cabinets and shelves. Another company makes the panelling at the moment but Mr Gibson is taking on another CoVault premise so the panelling walls can be produced in-house.
“Lots of people get the panelling so they can have a differet look and we want to make our own in order to cut out the middle man,” Mr Gibson said.
For further information, visit:
www.covaultworkspace.com/locations/mcfarlane-street
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