AN East Lothian specialist joinery business has revealed how the firm received a ‘lockdown lift’ after diversifying into staycation cabins, which have attracted interest from estate owners, farmers and caravan park operators.
Carberry Cabins has been spun out of RF Slight. The firm provides pod-style cabins, which are are being launched at The GWCT Scottish Game Fair at Scone Palace this week.
They are targeted at businesses which require luxury holiday accommodation, following rising demand for vacations in rural settings.
Owner Ferrier Slight launched Carberry Cabins following the success of the firm’s design-build of smaller garden rooms. The company has built more than 50 garden rooms, which are typically used as home offices or as accommodation for elderly relatives.
The Carberry Cabins management team has been strengthened with the appointment of two new partners. Derek Brodie, owner of D&G Developments, will oversee on-site construction, while Willie Kinghorn, who was construction operations manager for an Australian and New Zealand building products provider, will be responsible for design and sales.
The eco-friendly timber-framed cabins have an expected lifespan of up to 50 years and are manufactured to order at Carberry Cabins’ Tranent yard. They can be assembled on-site in less than one week.
The business said the template ensures there ‘minimum’ material wastage and all pods are largely manufactured using home-sourced timbers which require no treatment or finishes, including Thermowood Scottish larch, Siberian larch and cedar.
Insulation materials include Jablite expanded polystyrene, glass wool, sheep’s wool or PIR rigid insulation board, while timber cladding is FSC or PEFC-certified. Doors can be accoya, hardwood, softwood timber or UPVC, while roofing materials can include sedum living roofing.
Ferrier Slight said, “Our core joinery business, RF Slight, is busy and continues to grow, and this provided us with the opportunity to diversify and to look at the design and manufacture of bespoke garden rooms. This service has proved extremely popular and we have gone from supplying one unit per week to building five garden rooms per week, as working from home took hold, or families sought different caring solutions for elderly relatives.
“We are continuing to supply garden rooms but the next natural step was to move up a level and launch Carberry Cabins to satisfy a demand for high quality staycation accommodation.
“Carberry Cabins are ideally suited to estate owners and landowners, including farmers, who are looking to increase revenue streams by offering UK holidaymakers a rural holiday, but with all the comforts of their daily home life. We have also had interest from caravan park owners who see this as an addition to their core caravan offering, and we believe there is a market for housebuilders, with a Carberry Cabin being the ideal structure to serve as a marketing suite and office at new homes development sites.”
