Fair dinkum building opportunity

The business is in a rural setting, but has good exposure to the nearby road.

Owner wants to retire, so a profitable business that includes a successful shed franchise is on the market.

A business that has played a major role in the Wairarapa building industry for almost 15 years is for sale because its owner is planning to retire.

It is being sold as a going concern operation with its freehold land and buildings.

The property, at 278 Ngaumutawa Rd in Masterton, is close to the Solway Showgrounds and has high visibility from the road. A 220sq m warehouse and office building and a three-bedroom home are on the 1.51ha site.

The site is zoned rural/residential and the home is on the northern side of the property.

Lindsay Watts of Bayleys Wairarapa is seeking offers for the business as a going concern and its land and buildings. They can be bought together or individually.

The deadline for offers at Bayleys Wairarapa is August 7.

Watts said Alistair Bruce started his building company in 2000 and bought the Fair Dinkum Sheds steel-framed buildings franchise for the Wairarapa district two years later.

The franchise operates under the name Affordable Sheds and has a reputation in the Wairarapa area for building American-style barns, farm sheds, industrial warehouses and aircraft hangars.

Alistair Bruce Ltd also builds homes and commercial buildings, does renovations, and was a major contractor on the Lansdowne Park Lifestyle Village in Masterton.

Watts said Bruce's pending retirement opened an opportunity for an existing builder or contractor to add a successful operation to their own business, or for an enterprising new entrant to the market to reap the rewards of a robust trading history.

"The business has consolidated strong working relationships in the district and draws on a substantial and stable workforce of qualified and skilled tradespeople.

"Trading figures show this is an extremely profitable business with a solid track record and a substantial number of confirmed projects.

"The vendors are prepared to help new owner move into the business and to share some of their industry knowledge. Affordable Sheds is usually ranked among the top three Fair Dinkum distributors in the country, so this sort of help will be invaluable to a new owner.

Watts said trading figures would be made available to interested parties under a non-disclosure agreement.

"The vendors would consider offers for the business and the freehold property as a combined purchase, or as separate entities.

"The purchaser may opt to locate the business elsewhere, but a condition of the Fair Dinkum franchise arrangement is that it must be operated out of a Fair Dinkum display building."

The business now operates with one contract manager, three site managers, seven carpenters/labourers and one office worker. Indications are that the current staff would like to remain with the business under new ownership.

Work completed within the Fair Dinkum Sheds franchise operation is planned and managed via specific software called MultiBuild, and updates and support are included with the franchise agreement.

This quoting and design software enables the team to easily come up with designs best suited to their clients' needs and enables a three-dimensional rendering of the design to be made so the customer can see what their shed will look like.

What's on offer?

The business: Affordable /Fair Dinkum Sheds.
The property: Warehouse/office building, 3brm home on 1.51ha site.
Location: 278 Ngaumutawa Road, Masterton.
Agency: Bayleys Wairarapa.
Sales method: Offers sought by August 7.