Inside the shepherd’s hut factory: Craftsmen toil to meet soaring global demand for cabins on wheels as working from home revolution takes hold

• Photographs give glimpse into busy workshop in Dorchester, Dorset which builds bespoke shepherd’s huts 
• Plankbridge has seen surge in demand since March, and has employed an additional eight staff members 
• Huts usually take between three and four months to complete and Plankbridge is now at capacity for orders 

Astonishing photographs have given a glimpse into the workshop where skilled craftsmen have battled to meet soaring demand for shepherd’s huts and cabins on wheels during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Plankbridge, based in Dorset, experienced a huge surge in interest for their bespoke outdoor dens when lockdown began in March and Britons began to seek ways to create their own home offices and garden hideaways.

As demand soared, the company decided to employ a further eight staff to help create the impressive wooden structures, with the local team quickly growing from around 19 to 27 people.       

Each hut usually takes between three to four months to make but Plankbridge is now at capacity, meaning orders placed today are likely to be completed in July or August.

New photographs have captured the craftsmen as they worked at full speed inside the Dorchester workshop yesterday, with in-progress huts seen lined up within the huge space. 

Employees at Plankbridge have their temperatures taken each morning and are able to work in a socially-distanced way due to the size of the workshop.   

Plankbridge, based in Dorset, experienced a huge surge in interest for their bespoke outdoor dens when lockdown began in March and Britons began to seek ways to create their own home offices and garden hideaways

As demand soared, the company decided to employ a further eight staff to help create the impressive wooden structures, with the local team quickly growing from around 19 to 27 people. Pictured: The workshop

Each hut usually takes between three to four months to make but Plankbridge is now at capacity, meaning orders placed today are likely to be completed in July or August. Pictured: Inside the workshop

Images show the team assembling the wooden structures, including sanding doorways, securing windows and installing wooden flooring inside the custom built cabins.  

Employees are also seen reviewing plans for the bespoke huts in an office inside the workshop, while others don protective clothing as they take to the spray room. 

Further images capture workmen making the final touches on shepherd’s huts which are near completion.

The workshop is overseen by the owner and founder of Plankbridge, Richard Lee, who works from an old tram which has been converted into an office inside the factory. 

Plankbridge began creating designs inspired by the original Victorian shepherd’s huts around 20 years ago, and now offers a range of huts, cabins and bespoke options.

New photographs have captured the craftsmen as they worked at full speed inside the Dorchester workshop yesterday, with in-progress huts seen lined up within the huge space

The workshop is overseen by the owner and founder of Plankbridge, Richard Lee (pictured), who works from an old tram which has been converted into an office inside the factory

Employees are also seen reviewing plans for the bespoke huts in an office inside the workshop, while others don protective clothing as they take to the spray room

Pictured: An employee works inside the spray room at the Plankbridge workshop near Dorchester in Dorset yesterday

Employees at Plankbridge have their temperatures taken each morning and are able to work in a socially-distanced way due to the size of the workshop. Pictured: A craftsman installs wooden flooring inside a shepherd’s hut

Their cabins on wheels can feature double beds, bathrooms, and kitchens as well as hot tubs and covered areas outside. They have been exported as far as the USA and Switzerland since the company was launched in 2000.

Top-of-the-range bespoke designs typically cost from £55,000. 

Mr Lee uses local suppliers within a 10-mile radius for timber and fixings while the chassis – the framework – are supplied by his brother from his base across the border in Somerset.

The Plankbridge founder said he was initially forced to close down operations for three weeks during the first national lockdown, but demand has since soared.

‘I felt it was the right thing to furlough everybody and shut down,’ Mr Lee said. ‘All of our suppliers shut down too. During that shutdown, it felt like the demand for home offices and glamping had grown.

‘We came back and we hit the ground running. Half of what we are doing is people wanting more room for home offices or for an extra bedroom because they are at home.

Plankbridge began creating designs inspired by the original Victorian shepherd’s huts around 20 years ago, and now offers a range of huts, cabins and bespoke options

Pictured: A craftsman sands down a doorway for a shepherd’s hut inside the workshop of Plankbridge near to Dorchester

Pictured: An employee works inside a shepherd’s hut in the workshop of Plankbridge near to Dorchester in Dorset yesterday

Their cabins on wheels can feature double beds, bathrooms, and kitchens as well as hot tubs and covered areas outside. They have been exported as far as the USA and Switzerland since the company was launched in 2000

‘Half is people setting up glamping sites or expanding existing sites. Many of these are people who have had the time to think and re-evaluate and decided to run a glamping business.

‘The demand is there and people are feeling it and seeing it and going down that path, which they probably wouldn’t have thought of before lockdown.’ 

Mr Lee added: ‘I’m really pleased that we are busy and employing more people but I am fully aware of how tough it is for people out there.’  

He said he hopes that hotels and accommodation providers supplied by Plankbridge will be able to open smoothly when restrictions are eased. Each hut is a self-contained space, with guests having access to their own facilities.

Breakfast and meals can be left outside the hut for a contact-free experience.

Employees have been giving Zoom and FaceTime tours of the showroom and huts to prospective customers across the country, as the premises is closed to visitors. Pictured: The workshop

Mr Lee was inspired to start the company with partner Jane Dennison after coming across an old Victorian hut while walking by Hardy’s cottage, where Thomas Hardy was born

Pictured: An employee goes over the workshop plans in an office inside an old shepherd’s hut in the workshop of Plankbridge near to Dorchester

Employees have been giving Zoom and FaceTime tours of the showroom and huts to prospective customers across the country, as the premises is closed to visitors.

He was inspired to start the company with partner Jane Dennison after coming across an old Victorian hut while walking by Hardy’s cottage, where Thomas Hardy was born.

‘It sowed the idea of a house on wheels or a room of your home on wheels,’ Mr Lee said. ‘The idea is what we do all the work in the workshop and all you have to do is plug it in and plumb it in.

‘A few years ago people thought a shepherd’s hut was maybe a bit dark and cold but these are warm and dry places for people to hunker down in.

‘We are led by what people want and need, we are catering for that and really enjoying it.’   

Shed sellers have enjoyed a surge in demand over the last year as Britons with gardens look to retreat into nature to change their working landscape.

Among those to own a shepherd’s hut is former Prime Minister David Cameron, who bought his in 2017.

The BBC reported him saying: ‘My children want to use it as a Wendy house.

‘I want to use it as a book-writing room and my son wants it as an alternative bedroom. So, quite a lot of competition.’ 

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