Glasgow home architecture firm Hoko to roll out string of studios and push overseas

Glasgow-headquartered home architecture firm Hoko plans to roll out a string of studios across the UK before embarking on an overseas expansion drive.

The ambitious growth plans have been laid out as part of the firm’s mission to become a global household name within the next five years.

It aims to make its full project service model available to every UK home by opening 30 new studios before moving overseas for the first time with a Dublin studio later this year.

The plans, which follow a successful UK regional expansion which has seen clients increase by almost 1,000 per cent, will be financed by a £500,000 crowdfunding campaign launching on September 30. The investment will give anyone the chance to own part of the burgeoning business’ future.

Danny Campbell, Hoko founder, with Hoko Bricks. Picture: Jeff Holmes

Scottish architect and 2021 Great British Entrepreneur of the Year Danny Campbell founded Hoko in Glasgow in 2019 with the objective to fix a “broken” industry by creating a one-stop-shop client experience for homeowners seeking to improve living spaces with the help of architects, trusted builders and a free interior design service.

Since then, the fledgling business has grown to be worth more than £15 million, helping more than 400 clients complete home projects.

The firm began to expand across the UK earlier this year opening new studios run by project architects in Inverness, Bristol, Brighton, Birmingham and two in London, also adding to its service in Edinburgh and Stirling, despite the challenges thrown up by the pandemic.

The company has grown its team too, more than doubling headcount to 30.

News of the expansion came as the firm also launched two new services – Hoko Build and Hoko Shop – allowing the whole process to be delivered in one place in an average time of fewer than 190 days, bosses said.

Campbell said: “The Hoko mission has always been to provide the perfect home remodelling experience for homeowners. Now the business can be owned by the same homeowners that are at the heart of it.

“Our regional expansion, allied to the new revenue streams opened through Hoko Shop and Hoko Build have taken the business to the next level, and rapid national and international expansion is the next step towards Hoko becoming the global force we know it can be.”

He added: “We’re still at a really exciting stage for investors. We are small enough that personal investment will capitalise on our biggest growth phase.”

Despite being in testing phase, Hoko Shop and Hoko Build have already delivered more than £300,000 this financial year to date, with the business on track to turn over some £1.4 million – a predicted year-on-year rise of almost 240 per cent. The predictions follow revenue growth of almost 500 per cent between 2019 and 2021.

With further national and international expansion in the pipeline, the firm has forecast annual revenue to exceed £50m by the end of 2025.

The number of projects carried out by the business rose by 970 per cent to nearly 400 this calendar year.

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