This August, Guaranteed Irish is celebrating Home & Garden Month by showcasing members who help us create homes and gardens we love. One such business is Sheds Direct Ireland, a family-run company that has transformed how Irish customers buy and enjoy garden sheds.
Sheds Direct Ireland is known for making shed-buying simple, affordable, and even fun. The company has evolved to meet new garden trends, launching woodgrain-effect sheds, planters, composters, and glasshouses, as well as sustainable products like artificial grass and paving.
Can you tell us a bit about Shed’s Direct – how it all started and what makes your business stand out in the Irish market?
Of course - In 2008, Alan Dawson, the founder was having a particularly difficult time sourcing a shed in Ireland. The prices seemed very high for a mid-range product, the whole process of obtaining a quote from a company was very arduous, information on the products available were limited causing endless hours of research. Most companies in Ireland did not have stock of steel sheds, of those that did the lead time was 16- 18 weeks. There were simply minimal options to choose from.
We discussed how all of this could be done more efficiently - and before you know it, we had a mission statement, a business plan and took the leap into the garden shed market.
Sheds Direct Ireland was born from a simple idea: help people get organised and declutter in the easiest manner.
We simplified the whole process of ordering a shed and made it considerably more affordable in the process. Price and simplicity of ordering helped us get a foot in the market, I believe ensuring making the buying process simple, ensuring customers had options and above all making the shopping experience fun really helped us stand out against the competition. Whilst the company has evolved since 2008, our ethos remains the same – Quality products at a price you can afford.
Our carefully designed steel sheds come flat-packed, allowing customers to either assemble them or have Sheds Direct Ireland handle it on their behalf. Access and availability is a key focus, ensuring sheds reach their destination smoothly.
What trends are you noticing in garden and outdoor living design, and how is Shed’s Direct adapting to meet these needs?
Wooden sheds, or at least the appearance of a wooden shed is very much back in fashion. Timber sheds suffered during Covid for a number of reasons - availability of timber, long lead-times and the fact that they were not available flat-packed, someone would have to come and assemble them for you. However, they were never going to go away completely. We’ve seen a noticeable jump in wooden shed sales this year. In 2025, we launched a Woodgrain Shed - a steel shed that has the appearance of a Wooden one, and they’ve proved to be a popular choice with our customers.
People are moving to manageable gardens, they have too much to do day-to-day and the garden as it exists, takes up too much time. They’re replacing grass with low-maintenance clover lawns or artificial grass. Wild-flowers are replacing more ornamental flowers and plants - and urban vegetables growing is on the rise because it doesn’t take that much effort and you’ve something to show for it at the end of the season. We’re looking to capitalise on these trends so have expanded the product range now including children’s garden swings, artificial grass and paving locally sourced. We introduced a range of planters, glasshouses and composters encouraging customers to have some fun in the garden growing their own products.
Sustainability is a key focus for many Irish consumers. How does Shed’s Direct incorporate environmentally conscious practices into its products or operations?
Steel has an energy intensive construction, so it’s important that our sheds are durable. We have manufactured them to be highly durable, lasting a considerable length of time and most importantly to be almost fully recyclable. We were recently sent a photo of a shed that we sold in 2010 and it’s in great condition all these years later. We designed our sheds with the customer in mind, if they undertake basic maintenance on their sheds, there is no reason to replace it for a considerable length of time, if they move house, they can of course disassemble it and reassemble in the new household.
In 2025 we made considerable changes to our daily operations. Our new showroom on the Naas Road went paperless, offering our brochures as a PDF. I couldn’t estimate how much paper this will save alone, but I can suggest that this would have otherwise been the biggest use of paper in the company. we’ve made changes throughout the organisation other than this, too. Our steel sheds come in 100% recycled and recyclable cardboard boxes. We’ve cut down on packing material, opting for ‘to-size’ boxes - and this also ensures that the shed can be transported safely.
When “Sustainability” is mentioned most peoples first thought is eco-friendly, whilst this is a major factor to consider in any operation, sustainability as an Irish company is equally important. Adapting to market change in the company from products, pricing and of course salary scale affords us to sustain jobs and help the local communities. Without keeping abreast and implementing change throughout the workforce we could not sustain jobs or uphold provenance.
What challenges and opportunities do you see ahead for the Irish garden and outdoor structure industry?
The government’s plans to relax rules on cabins and modular homes is certainly an opportunity for those involved with outdoor structures. It’s an interesting prospect for the nation, but providing it’s handled correctly, it will allow companies like us to increase our range of offerings to the Irish market. It’s something that we’ve been considering for some time, but we’ll be monitoring this one closely.
As an Irish-owned company, how important is it to you that customers choose local over imported alternatives – and what benefits does that bring to communities?
It is very important to choose locally, because of our customers we employ 20 plus people which in turn gives back to the community and encourages customers to shop locally. Our staff all live within driving distance so this brings employment to other businesses locally, it is like an endless wheel which will continue to turn as long as our customers receive the service and attention they deserve.
What advice would you give to other homegrown Irish businesses looking to scale or stand out in a competitive market?
Make ordering as simple as possible. In an industry like ours, the customer lacks time, the sales process shouldn’t be a hassle, have as much information available and offer choice. Far too many companies in our sector rely on the ‘call us for a quote’ approach. That worked very well for years, but it’s time-consuming and it makes the customer do all the work. On top of that, there’s a whole generation of people who just don’t want to use their phone to make calls, they prefer other channels to communicate.
Give your customer a range of options to make the sale in a style that suits them - that might be in-store during the week, sure, but it might also be on their phones at 1am in the morning. Make all processes simple and as desirable possible.
Why was it important for Shed’s Direct to become a member of Guaranteed Irish, and what does that badge mean to you personally and to the wider team?
Firstly, we are very proud to be an Irish family run business. We are community focused, and enjoy seeing the community growth. Carrying the Badge of Guaranteed Irish helps us to show everyone that we are a strong, proud company with high standards willing to go the extra mile. We are a Family business with all of the trials and tribulations but being Irish brings a sense of security for our employees and customers alike.
As a child I would have seen the Guaranteed Irish mark linked to a lot of large companies, so for me and Alan (my Father), it is a very surreal feeling to now be one of the companies we had admired for years.
All of our Team, from Sales staff, Administrators, Media & Marketing, Fitters and delivery drivers, working together under the Sheds Direct Ireland umbrella with the Guaranteed Irish Logo are dedicated to serving our community with a friendly, welcoming attitude and appreciation to all of our customers. The “G” serves as a reminder to be proud to be Irish and supporting our economy. The high standards set by Guaranteed Irish builds trust with our customers and our staff.
Learn more about Shed's Direct Ireland
