Crowning Glory
How a chance meeting on a building site became a 20-year story.
In 2004, I was an actor trying to provide some stability for my young family when I went to work on a building site to learn new skills. There I met Minde: incredibly knowledgeable, incredibly capable. He took me under his wing, and we hit it off instantly, both on site and in the pub afterwards.
We couldn't have been more opposite, but we shared a passion for wood, a passion for doing the job properly, and at the heart of it all a really strong friendship. We saw a gap in the market for luxury gazebos and garden rooms, and right there, the idea for Crown Pavilions was born. The company followed in 2006.
Our first customer was a lorry driver nearing retirement. He came over to a stand we'd put together at a show in Kent and said, "I've worked hard all my life. I want to make some happy memories now with my family." That was a humbling day, and we knew that no matter how big the company grew, we would always strive to give our customers the very best.
We worked around the clock those first years: designing, manufacturing, delivering and installing every product ourselves. Today, our team has grown from two people to almost 100, and we've installed buildings in 28 countries.
Heartbreakingly, we lost Minde in 2025, but he continues to inspire everyone in the business. Crown Pavilions wouldn't be what it is today without him. We celebrated 20 years this year, and with Minde's memory burning bright, we're only just getting started.
