A bit about us!

The Greenhouse People Ltd is a dynamic family owned and run business designing, manufacturing and retailing garden and leisure buildings.

The primary products we design and make consist of aluminium and timber greenhouses which we deliver direct from the factory to the customer’s doorstep. Our range, 70% of which is manufactured in Staffordshire, includes largely domestic doorstep delivery along with garden centre delivery, schools, small business etc. We pride ourselves on the quality of our products and on our customer service which is considered integral to maintaining the good reputation of the company.

The product range includes Alton Cedar greenhouses and summer houses and Robinsons, Simplicity and Hercules greenhouses.

We sell our own products, plus those of other manufacturers, direct to customers at over 35 display sites based at garden centres throughout England and Scotland. This allows our expert staff to engage with customers at a personal level and help them purchase the building that is right for them.

Today we employ over 200 people, all working together to meet the needs and desires of our customers when it comes to the garden buildings in the lives.

The Greenhouse People is the UK’s leading manufacturer of greenhouses – with over 30-years’ experience designing and creating luxury products to help you get the most out of your gardening projects.

We have over 30 independent greenhouse erectors that cover the whole of the UK

Working for us!

Thank you for your interest in joining us here at The Greenhouse People.

We are a dynamic and innovative family owned and run business with family business ethics integral to organisational culture. Our people are of the utmost importance to us and as a company committed to equality of opportunity, we welcome applications from candidates from all sections of the community.

The story of the Alton Amateur

The story of the Alton Amateur, arguably the most well regarded greenhouse of the last fifty years.

There was a time, in the ’60s, when almost all greenhouses were made from wood, and almost all from Cedar wood, and the most famous of these was always the Alton Amateur.

Its iconic design with the sloping sides and the concrete base kerbs plus the sliding ‘vent access’ side vents meant that an Alton greenhouse was instantly recognisable in any garden, and many remember them in their parents’ or grand parents’ gardens.

At this time the factory employed hundreds of people, and in the busy season, could deliver hundreds of greenhouse a week, all in articulated lorries.

Old alton delivery trucks

In the 1970s the cheap mass-produced aluminium greenhouse was invented and over the next 30 years, the cedar greenhouse changed from a practical essential item to a more aspirational item, more at the top end of the greenhouse market.

Alton Amateur

In 2011, whilst owned by a garage manufacturer, the Alton brand was threatened with closure as the garage company shut down. It was at this stage that the Brand was rescued by The Greenhouse People, and the factory was moved to the Staffordshire moorlands. Ironically, several current staff actually come from Alton (staffs) although the name is originally derived from elsewhere

Since the move, the Alton brand has thrived as new Evolution models which combine the beauty of wood with the low maintenance of aluminium have been developed. So, although the Amateur model is retiring this year, the Alton greenhouse brand is still going strong and will continue to do so as it eyes up its centenary year in 2021.