SIMON BASTON We sit down with the man behind the Goodsheds in Barry

SIMON BASTON The Man Behind The Goodsheds

How developer Simon Baston put a new spin on Barry town with the Goodsheds development

Situated in the centre of Barry, South Wales, The Goodsheds is the first new sustainable urban high street in the UK where people can work, eat, live and play. We sit down with the developer and creator of this exciting new concept.

Tell us a bit about your background and how you got into building and developing?

My interest in construction and development started at quite an early age of 13-14 years old when I worked with my father’s construction company, which led on to me, in the end, completing a degree in Construction Management. When leaving university, it was the depths of recession so I didn’t think I had any choice but to start my own business! To start with it was a classic any job, painting, changing gutters, any house clear-outs etc to get the business going, 1992 was quite a difficult time. As soon as we built up a portfolio of work, my father joined me and we have worked together ever since. I have spent my whole working life with my father and now my son Alex has joined us in the business. To have three generations working together, I think is a great achievement for us.

What inspired you to create The Goodsheds in Barry?

To create the Goodsheds was a lifelong ambition really in terms of creating a new model where there are high levels of social collaboration and interaction. I think everybody understands now that we are moving towards a more independent nature with people reconnecting in their local areas. The Goodsheds itself is a beautiful building and directly opposite the awardwinning Pumphouse and alongside all the housing stock opposite, it just felt that there was a new start needed for this area and a huge amount of amenity needed. From this point, we took a look at what people would

probably want of a scheme and we felt it would need a place where people can work in a very innovative and cost-effective manner but also be able to cross collaboratively with everybody working there. The actual structure of the scheme can evolve as markets change and desires change.

What can people expect from The Goodsheds?

From the Goodsheds, you can expect a full-blown “independent” experience where you can have an outdoor gym, drive-through coffee, hotel stay, many fantastic food operators, a great independent retail sector etc that we believe is the first of its kind in the UK. Next year the scheme will be finished off by adding five more serviced apartments which will be built out of small railway carriages and twenty pod offices for three to five people to work inside the confines of the Goodsheds. What we really hope is that people will make it a home from home for them and call the Goodsheds their meeting place for what is now undoubtedly a new way of life.

How do you feel about your influence in changing the perception of Barry?

Hopefully, as a company and the great individuals that work with us and the fantastic professional team, we have helped to improve the perception of Barry in terms of what a fantastic place to live, work and play. My whole family are settled in Barry. We have realised, especially with Covid, what a fantastic place it is with the beaches, parks, great infrastructure and now with the Goodsheds, hopefully, a huge choice. What we guess we would hope to achieve in terms of influence is for everybody to quickly understand what the Goodsheds is trying to achieve and to become a way of life for everyone.

What advice would you give aspiring developers?

In terms of advice to inspiring developers, I think the most important thing is that you have to be true to yourself in terms of what the end product you want. I think the hardest thing for developers or entrepreneurs is that I generally feel you have to be able to, in your mind, see the end product and walk your way through it, taste it, smell it, feel it etc before you even start. I think this is critical to any project before you begin. For us as a company, we want to be part of a social impact movement and we want to be part of a change in terms of society reconnecting. Based on this, our advice as a company to aspirational developers is that, whilst the return of profit is essential to ensure a healthy business, producing a scheme that you are going to drive past in thirty years and still be in awe of it, is the most important point.

What’s next for you?

For us, our company is looking at a smaller scheme in Barry which will come to the market place the middle of next year (you will be the first to know!) which again, will add and compliment where we believe Barry is moving. Also, we just managed to gain planning permission for the conversion of Newport market into a full-blown live, work, play position and we hope to start in January with a completion for under a year. Follow The Goodsheds on Instagram @ goodsheds.