We welcomed our first visitors in January 2007
Today, the National Self Build & Renovation Centre (NSBRC), remains the UK’s only permanent visitor centre designed specifically to meet the needs of individual self-builders, renovators and home improvers.
Originally conceived by BuildStore (who remain a founding exhibitor in the NSBRC) we have, since 2014, been owned and operated by ‘The Homebuilding Centre Limited’, an employee-owned business.
Our Employee Ownership structure and business model
Our team have a genuine stake in the business via our ‘hybrid’ ownership model, through a combination of shares held by our Employee Ownership Trust, Share Incentive Plan and a small number of direct share-holders, allowing a culture based on openness and transparency, where colleagues can share ideas in a caring environment. Two elected employee representatives serve two-year terms and attend all board meetings.
Our employees own 80.1% of the business – with the largest shareholder being our Employee Ownership Trust. This has increased from 65.2% (in 2016), by buying-back a number of ordinary and preferential shares from our investor (Capital for Colleagues). By 2025/26 our aim is to increase this to 85% (with C4C holding the remaining 15% of ordinary shares). This means we all have a responsibility for the business, and are genuinely passionate about the experience our visitors enjoy.
10 years of Employee Ownership
In 2024, we hosted a special dinner to celebrate 10 years of Employee Ownership, making full use of the Centre’s space and stunning backdrop of full-sized show houses, with over a hundred guests in attendance.
Popular BBC News presenter and journalist, Martine Croxall, hosted the evening, providing an insightful and highly-topical address on the importance of transparency and trust in the media, and introduced other guest speakers including James de le Vingne, CEO of the Employee Ownership Association (EOA).
The evening concluded with a surprise awards ceremony, where we recognised and thanked some of our valued suppliers and supporters who have helped the business across the last decade. Read more about this celebration, and take a look at our event gallery.
Going from strength to strength
In 2017, we were named Wiltshire’s ‘Small Business of the Year’ and in the same year, we won a Build It Award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Self Build’. To complete a hat trick of gongs in 2017, we were highly commended by the Employee Ownership Association in their ‘Rising Star of the Year’ category, having also been highly commended in the same category in 2015.
Our EO culture has given us a huge amount of resilience, which has certainly been put to the test during the last couple of years with the global pandemic. It was very challenging having our doors closed for over seven months between 23rd March ’20 and 11th April ’21. However, we not only survived the covid-crisis, but emerged stronger than ever before.
We regard ourselves as custodians of this fantastic resource and believe the NSBRC is the heart of a thriving sector. We are often the first destination for anyone self-commissioning a home, believe we have the very best manufacturers, suppliers, and service providers in the UK, on show here at the NSBRC. We are excited to help you discover these specialist businesses during your visit. Please do use your barcode scanner to request information from our exhibitors.
In 2022, we celebrated 15 years of the National Self Build & Renovation Centre and hosted an array of special online events - covering key topics for those looking to undertake a self build or renovation project - which are now available to view on demand here.
The National Self Build & Renovation Centre are proud to have received the Employee Ownership Association’s award for ‘Business Resilience', recognising our achievements during the covid-19 pandemic, having been voted as the winner from a short list of thirteen companies.
Businesses of all sizes were invited to submit a written story about how their focus on their people has supported employee health and wellbeing, helped the business adapt and delivered benefit for multiple stakeholders.
Thousands of votes were cast by the EO Community for their favourites this summer, as part of an EO Stories competition, before the final winners were announced during the EOA’s annual conference.
We'd like to thank everyone who took the time to vote for us!
You can view our short video case study below.
The online surgery below answers who should be considering employee ownership, why become employee owned (exploring Tax implications, Exit Strategies and long-term culture benefits) and how to become EO (exploring the key actions and milestones in a transition).
Featuring an introduction by the Employee Ownership Association, expert presentations from EO specialist advisor Capital for Colleagues, and engaging real-life business case studies - including the NSBRC - and concluding with a panel Q&A session - this surgery is designed to be an engaging, enjoyable and informative couple of hours.
