The Annexe Bike Shed - A Brief History

How was the Annexe, SBD, LPCB & Insurance Storage Shed designed?

Designed in 2001 by Ray & Neil (retired)

Ray Parker & Neil Horne are engineers with a lifetime of design and engineering experience working at Flexiform (Asgard's Parent Company) for decades.

Ray is a lifetime caravaner with his own static caravan in Bridlington (or Brid). The Caravan storage concept/ market was effectively created by Ray Parker, as way back in 2001. So, given Flexiform's reputation for quality storage. The team decided to make a fantastic storage box even better. Ray recognised the need for on-site, all-year-round storage with the Addition shed... but what about the domestic market?.

The Anenxe was born... and what a shed this was. Once again, one prototype on success. This new unit was bomb-proof. We did our own testing... which was basically asking Neil to try and break in with a big pile of tools.... it never happened, he never got in. Once again, we had a blueprint for success.

Off for testing

The unit passed first time; we had a super secure unit. But the story did not end there.

Secure Bike Storage

Andy Heath was much younger at the time :O) and a keen club cyclist. Andy needed a place for his new Trek bike, so Andy... "borrowed" ..errmmm a unit, popped his bike in and took some pictures, added them to the website and suddenly, we had a bike storage shed.

Andy recalls:

"Our house was actually burgled not long after we moved in, and the only thing that wasn't stolen was my bike, as the thieves could not get into the Asgard shed!! Result... sort of.. we left that shed behind when we moved, and the owners still have it, and it still looks new"

The story continued.... Andy kept buying more bikes and needed more and more storage, so each time the design team designed a new shed, Andy made it into a bike shed... and the range just grew. Thanks to his contacts Andy was able to get these bike sheds tested and reviewed by all the big players in the industry and of course.... team GB....

Over the last 25 years, the ADDITION & Annexe have been copied by many other companies, both UK-based and overseas, despite their look-alike design (they are almost exact visual copies). We have yet to see the quality and finesse of our original design, combining a 100% home-grown concept with 100% British manufacturing, featuring heavy-duty steel construction (the copies are often imported using thinner steel) with Asgard's galvanized weatherproof finish, and stainless-steel hinges. Asgard only uses locally/UK-sourced materials and fixings. We took the market by storm and so began the journey.

The Asgard Annexe Bike Shed - Decades Years Old!

Now over 25 years old, the Annexe storage unit is still 100% produced by Asgard, and (at this time) Asgard has the only tested enclosure bike shed range around) The Annexe was a groundbreaking piece of design and still looks good today. 1. We have not really changed from the original design; it was so good. In the last few years, we upgraded the hinges to stainless steel for extra longevity, and over the years, we have varied the paint texture a little, as we are always conscious of our environmental impact, so we will always keep an eye on emissions and work with our suppliers to ensure we only use the cleanest materials in our manufacturing plant. We have recently introduced the Annexe Plus, a bigger and STILL tested bigger version, to accommodate the new larger e- bikes.