A DIY fan dad has revealed how a Love Island-inspired garden project has now transformed into a million-pound jackpot business.
Father-of-two Derry Green made the most of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown by managing to build his glamping pod using second-hand items, costing just £6,000 overall.
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And after sharing his efforts on social media, the 40-year-old has been bombarded with requests to rent the place in Skelmersdale, near Wigan.
The site was booked out for the next two years inside just three days – not only bringing in £200,000 but also prompting him to launch his own glamping business.
The Secret Garden Glamping has now been valued at £4m.
The handyman has admitted nabbing some of the decor ideas from hit ITV show Love Island.
Derry says the successful venture is a “dream come true” – while hosting celebrity guests, from TV stars – including actors and actresses from soap operas Coronation Street and EastEnders – to Instagram influencers.
The Lancashire dad told NeedToKnow.co.uk: “It’s turned from a lockdown project with my kids into the most viewed, most booked and most followed glamping site in the UK.
“We’ve had some absolutely amazing guys stay here, from celebrities to families and there’s also been two ladies from New York who flew over for two days just to stay.
“Each unit is hand-built by myself — I create new ideas, then set to work.
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“The inspiration comes from different places – it could either be a piece of wallpaper I’ve seen or the way the trees are shaped around the area.
“I never have a plan when I start and I change my mind about ten times a day – it’s a very fluid process.”
Derry is a self-proclaimed DIY aficionado and taught himself through YouTube tutorials.
He always hoped to one day build a playhouse for his two children – Sophia, 11, and nine-year-old Noah – as he himself grew up creating dens and treehouses with his brother.
And it was during a home camping trip in the garden he found inspiration to make the experience more “exciting” – deciding to create the new project step-by-step.
He said: “I decided to build a deck, then days turned into weeks and weeks into months until I had a full pod.
“It just kept expanding from there and the kids helped me along the way, pushing my limits each time.
“It took me around eight weeks to complete in total, but now it can take up to three months as they are getting bigger and even more unique.
“Originally, I used reclaimed items from second-hand websites like Facebook Marketplace or eBay, but now I source all my materials from local merchants and suppliers.”
Each glamping pod can now cost up to £70,000 to build, but Derry says the positive impact it had at a difficult time has made his toils all the more rewarding.
He said: “I needed something to distract myself and the kids from what was happening in the world and I wanted to project that positivity on social media.
“I never thought it would turn into the business it has now and we intend to invest millions more into expanding this further.”
He presently owns one site in Skelmersdale, but plans to open others across the UK – with nine units on the go and four more in the works.
His lockdown project appears to have boosted his love life as well – he met his girlfriend Chelsea Rogers, 24, as a direct result.
He said: “We met here at the site, as she was one of the first guests to come and stay.
“I accidentally managed to lock her out and when I returned to apologise, sparks started to fly – from there, we’ve never been apart.”
And he urged others to try to follow his example by getting stuck into DIY at home, telling people: “Just give it a go – we all have to start somewhere.”
He added: “There are so many times where I have got things wrong, but that’s where I’ve learned and managed to figure out better ways to do things.
“I’m living proof that if I can do it, anybody can.
“If you told me three years ago that this is what I’d be doing, I wouldn’t believe it – it still baffles me every day.
“The kids absolutely love what we do and my son still helps me, whereas my daughter loves spending time there with her friends.
“I smile all day long as this was my dream job growing up.”
Other inventive home reinventions to give people potential inspiration include a woman who – after being unable to afford a £250 velvet bed frame now knocks up her own for just £25.
One man made his wife a ‘gin shelf’ using old pallets, completely free – and a woman used eBay and B&Q bargains rather than buy an expensive new patio.
On the showbiz side, chart-topping pop star Gwen Stefani – singer with the band No Doubt – has transformed her Fleetwood Pusher motorhome into a £300,000 luxury palace-on-wheels.
Yet someone on the move, twice over, is new Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou.
The Australian football manager, who this week quit the Scottish Premiership‘s Celtic to join the English Premier League club in north London, also sold his £1.8m transformed Tuscan villa in Melbourne.
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