A family-run garden rooms company has transformed a derelict farmyard into a swish £500,000 showroom “village” as sales soar by 25%.

Rubicon Garden Rooms has unveiled its new headquarters on the Cheshire/North Wales border following an 18-month project to turn the old farm buildings into a showcase for its growing range of zero-maintenance garden rooms.

The firm was founded by former aircraft engineer John Lyon who started out as a building contractor in 2006 before moving into the manufacture and installation of garden rooms in 2013.

Today he runs the expanding business alongside his son, Rob, and a team of 25 staff serving customers across North Wales, Cheshire, Merseyside, the Wirral and Shropshire.

Known as The Village, the site features 10 fully furnished garden rooms designed to show customers what is possible – from home offices, gyms, and entertainment spaces to music rooms and one or two-bedroom annexes.

It’s located on Old Hope Road on the outskirts of Penyffordd only a mile from Junction 36 of the A55

Customers, suppliers and family members were joined at the official opening by Alyn and Deeside MP Sir Mark Tami and Fflint Wrecsam MS Ken Skates who both praised the company for its continuing success and for creating local jobs.

The investment comes as the company reported a 25% rise in sales since moving from its former base at Deeside Enterprise Centre in Shotton.

John said: “We have come a long way in the past few years and I am delighted to have the site all set up and finished for customers to come along and have a look and see what we do here.

“We are selling a lifestyle and the showroom means customers can come here, look at our range and imagine what one of our buildings will look like in their garden.

“Our staff have worked hard to develop the showroom site, while still at the same time being out on the jobs to generate the revenue we need to keep the business flowing and customers happy.

“You can look at garden rooms online and you will see a pretty picture, but unless you actually stand in it, walk around it, experience the quality of the buildings, it is very hard for people to visualise the end result.

“We have had an extremely good reaction from the customers who have already been here, and that is evidenced by the fact that we have enjoyed about a 25 per cent uplift in sales in the last couple of years since we moved from our old base.

“As people become more aware that we are here and our showroom centre is now completed, I expect that growth to continue.”

John’s son Rob said the celebration, where guests were treated to a pizza van, drinks and snacks, marked the culmination of the complete transformation of the former farmyard.

He said: “When you think about where it has come from and how it started and what it was like when we first moved into it, to have it all finally finished off is brilliant.

“Having the showroom makes such a big difference. Customers who have already been here have all been impressed by what they have seen and they particularly comment on the quality of the buildings we provide.

“I am really proud of what the business has created here and really proud of my dad because I have seen how hard he has worked to get to where he has got to with it.”

Alyn and Deeside MP Sir Mark Tami said he was delighted to attend the formal opening of the showroom having previously visited the company when it was based at Deeside Enterprise Centre.

He said: “This is my first visit to this site and I must say I am very impressed.

“I visited the business at its previous site, and this site is on a different scale.

“It gives customers a real understanding of the size and scale of the rooms the company provides.

“Companies like Rubicon Garden Rooms are so important to the Welsh economy, all SMEs (Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises) are, because as well as the big prime companies around here such as Airbus, Toyota and firms on Deeside Industrial Estate, we also need SMEs.

“It is very important that companies like Rubicon Garden Rooms feel confident enough to invest in this area and create local jobs.

“This is a really good example of an SME which has grown and now sits in a very impressive site like this, and I hope they go from strength to strength.”

Fflint Wrecsam MS Ken Skates, who visited the site in March as the showroom centre was being developed, said: “It is an absolute delight to return here and see the showroom site officially opening and seeing the company continuing to grow.

“It not just about the product they offer their customers, it is about what they do for and with the community in providing local jobs and remaining an important employer in the area.

“It is so important we see good companies like Rubicon grow and expand in North Wales.”