A family run North East decorating company has invested £300,000 into an additional unit having seen revenues rocket by 300%.
The Decorating Centre Online (DCO) is bolstering business after snapping the 10,500sqft unit on the Croxdale Business Park in Durham.
The unit is based seven miles from the Coundon-based store, which has housed the business since 1986.
Owner Helen and Matthew Goddard say the extra space will help boost their growth plans further, giving the firm capacity to double in size over the next three years.
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It also plans to open a new store which will be accessible to more professional decorators from the surrounding Durham and North Yorkshire area.
Ms Goddard said: “As the home of decorating, we needed the additional space to ensure we can continue to deliver our market leading service more efficiently, and also extend our local presence in County Durham for professional decorators.”
Officially opening its doors on October 4, the expansion will lead to the addition of three full time members of staff to its 22-strong team by the end of the year.
Ms Goddard added: “With the current expansion and growth plans for the next 18 months we are actively recruiting to ensure we continue to provide a great service both in-store and online.
"The whole team are hugely excited to launch the new store later this month and welcome customers to our new facility.
“Our Coundon store is still open to customers who can benefit from the aesthetic layout and colours style ideas as well the most extensive wallpaper range in the region, and plans are in place to give this store a makeover too in the near future.”
The firm had originally been established in 1985 by Ms Goddard’s mother and grandmother, Susan Johnson and Eileen Brownbridge, and was originally called Wear Valley Decorating Centre.
When Mrs Brownbridge retired, her daughter continued to run the store with her husband. Their daughters – Ms Goddard and her sister Sara Davies, founder of Crafter’s Companion and star of Dragons’ Den and Strictly Come Dancing – got their first taste of business doing shifts in the shop when they were younger.
