A Suffolk firm which is one of the UK’s leading suppliers of garden offices has marked its 10th anniversary with the appointment of two long-serving employees as directors.

Smart Garden Offices, based at Thurston, near Bury St Edmunds, was launched by managing director Charlie Dalton in February 2016 from a dimly-lit workshop with a table saw.

A decade on, the business employs more than 40 people and operates from a 2.5 acre factory site to which it moved last year and which features the latest CAD/CAM precision production technology,

Mr Dalton has now invited two loyal employees to become members of the board with Debi Knott becoming operations director and Tony Graves taking on the role of production director.

Mr Dalton said: “Through hard work and luck we’ve built the business to become 40-strong with a powerhouse factory, an award-winning team and with some simply magnificent buildings in our range. I’m so intensely proud.

“Tony’s fortitude, tolerance and sheer skill has enabled me to turn my vision into reality and, through intense professionalism in every single field, Debi has steered the company and brought a maturity to our operations.”

Smart Garden Offices was among the winners at last year’s EADT Business Awards, picking up the trophy in the Future50 One to Watch category for business identified as having high growth potential.

Its plans for this year include a second CNC machine and the launch of a fourth product range.

Mr Dalton added: “I would like to thank the whole team at Smart for their contributions to our past, the present and our growth in the future.”