How this business turned adversity into opportunity

The COVID-19 crisis hit Jeremy Fleming and his company Stagekings harder and faster than most other businesses.

The COVID-19 crisis hit Jeremy Fleming and his company Stagekings harder and faster than most other businesses. As a business that builds large stages for concerts, sporting events, exhibitions and corporate activations, Stagekings relies entirely on mass gatherings of people. So when gatherings of more than 500 or more people were banned on March 13, the business ground to a halt. The stage they had spent six weeks building for a Miley Cyrus and Robbie Williams concert in Melbourne wasn’t needed, but that was only the beginning. “Over the course of the next few days, the phone just kept ringing and 100% of our upcoming work was cancelled,” Fleming recalls. Fleming and his wife worked through their financial options, talking to the finance company about their repayments, renegotiating their rent with the landlord, and making the difficult decision to stand down all their 12 staff but one. “It was a really tough day,” Fleming says of letting the staff go. That weekend, he was chatting to a friend of his who runs a similar business in Ireland who said his company was about to start building standing desks for people to use during lockdown and suggested Stagekings try the same thing.

A new business in two days

So Fleming messaged the head of productions, who designs and builds his own furniture, and the pair went to the workshop the following Monday, drew up some plans, and did some test builds. On Monday night Fleming built the e-commerce site and they were live by 3pm on Tuesday. They had built a new business in 48 hours! “We sold 20 desks on the first day. By Wednesday we had to call the crew back. We had half a dozen guys back from that Wednesday and it built up from there,” Fleming says. The company now sells about 30 different pieces of furniture – a range of desks, laptop stands, monitor stands – and just nine weeks into the new business has sold nearly 8,000 items, including to Singapore and New Zealand. And staff have grown from the 12 before the COVID-19 crisis to 56. “it’s turning into quite the big operation now,” Fleming says. It’s one of many businesses to have changed its products when the coronavirus crisis struck, including restaurants offering gourmet takeaways; distilleries switching from gin to hand sanitiser; and high tech manufacturers making ventilators. The business initially tapped into demand for office furniture from people who were working from home for the first time and now it has expanded into what Fleming calls “things that people just want”.

Learn along the way

They’ve asked their 7,000 followers on social media what they need and so are also building desks to do puzzles on, scooter racks, shoe racks, and desks to use on a couch or in bed. “We made that and sold 440 of those in just over a week, which is mind‑blowing.” Stagekings is also building a Return-to-Work range, with screens and desks that meet the COVID-19 distancing requirements. It is donating $10 from every sale to Support Act, a charity supporting events industry workers through the pandemic. The furniture business has taken on a life of its own, and Fleming says that even when stage building work comes back, they’ll keep running the furniture business. It’s been a steep but worthwhile learning curve – marketing, social media, shipping and dealing with 7000 consumer customers instead of a handful of other businesses. “We just looked at the desk just as another project to start with and worked out the kind of people we needed to do it and the machinery and the materials, and we just did it,” he says. For Fleming, there’s one big lesson from the pivot to desk building: “If you’ve got a good idea, start and then learn along the way.” Book in a quick call with our customer care team Book a call in with UNO

5 stars for our service reviews from clients

Book Call Now

UNO home loans

Try Plans, by UNO
Mortgage calculators completely reimagined
Get Started
Considering a purchase or refinance?

Try Plans by UNO

Mortgage calculators completely reimagined
Get Started
☎️ 🚫 No cold call promise

Related Articles

TESTIMONIALS

What our customers are saying

John Carlo Penaflor
June 24, 2025
5 stars for our service reviews from clients
Amazing service from Scott. Efficient, clear and fast. Got my homeloan refinanced in record time.
Read more
Rebekah Tolmachoff
June 24, 2025
5 stars for our service reviews from clients
We had a fantastic experience working with Paul at Uno. From start to finish, he was professional, attentive, and genuinely cared about us and our situation. He kept in touch throughout the entire process, always keeping us informed and making everything feel simple and stress-free. Nothing was ever too much trouble, and his support made a big difference. Highly recommend Paul to anyone looking for a reliable and caring broker!
Read more
Sally MacKenzie
June 10, 2025
5 stars for our service reviews from clients
We chose Uno Home Loans from their impressive web site knowing we were going to find it hard, on many fronts, to qualify for a home loan. We were incredibly fortunate to be assigned Mike Parsons as right from the get-go, despite the complexities, he hit the ground running for us. He was incredibly knowledgeable, with years of experience but what was immediately apparent and impressive was that he was totally invested in getting us over the line, doing absolutely everything possible, including working around the clock. Despite it being a relatively small loan in the order of things, Mike never missed a beat, getting docs ready, following up and answering every request from the proposed funder immediately. He kept us informed on progress the minute anything happened, and again if anything needed to be done, he was right on it. In short, we highly recommend Uno, and Mike, knowing what a remarkable job he did, over many weeks, to get us our loan. He got us a great deal, with far better rates than we expected, so we couldn't be happier. In fact, without doubt, you'd be hard pressed to find a more personable, sharp, hard working, dedicated professional who clearly prides himself on getting his customers standout results.
Read more
Dylan Aubrey
May 31, 2025
5 stars for our service reviews from clients
Jesse did a great job with helping me secure my loan, will be using him again in the future
Read more
Tom Deal
May 30, 2025
5 stars for our service reviews from clients
This is the second time I’ve worked with Mike Parsons, and I wouldn’t go anywhere else for mortgage advice. He’s extremely knowledgeable, responsive, and always happy to help. Mike takes a consultative approach, presenting clear options and making the whole process stress-free. Friendly, professional, and genuinely invested in getting the best outcome. Highly recommend and will definitely use him again!
Read more
ShelleyGawith Functional Nutrition
May 27, 2025
5 stars for our service reviews from clients
Paul was amazing to work with. He went out of his way to help us with every last question. He sorted everything out for us, was a wealth of knowledge in terms of who else to use to support us in the buying process. He made moving from New Zealand so easy. He explained everything to us in an easy to understand way. He really worked for us!!! Plus he's such a lovely funny guy, super approachable. Super responsive, has a great team. Totally took care of us in the whole process. I can't wait to use Paul again and would recommend him to every kiwi moving over and all our aussie friends :)
Read more
Matt Carter
May 21, 2025
5 stars for our service reviews from clients
Paul from Uno has been amazing. Made it so easy! Highly recommend and made the finance process much more enjoyable experience for us.
Read more
Timothy Semsarian
May 17, 2025
5 stars for our service reviews from clients
UNO went above and beyond to help my wife and I with our home loan and settlement. Couldn’t recommend them enough - Jake Wood was an absolute legend! Kept us informed during the whole process and was very thorough with his work, even with a very tight timeframe. Thank you again for all your help, and looking forward to continue using your services!
Read more
Patti Jo Mogensen
May 16, 2025
5 stars for our service reviews from clients
100% Rockstar. We found Paul and Uno Home Loans from recommendations from people who had used his services. We know understand why he comes so highly recommended. We definitely put Paul and his team under pressure due to an oversight our end which meant that he had to don his superman cape and work miracles for us. We didn't appreciate the very very short window we created for ourselves (think less than two weeks for settlement). Paul was able to wave his magic wand, come up with multiple solutions to our situation and make it all happen seamlessly. It goes without saying then, without reservation that we recommend Paul and his team as our trusted mortgage advisor! Thanks again Paul. *****The limoncello is on route we promise :)
Read more
Lani Wards
May 13, 2025
5 stars for our service reviews from clients
Paul Davey worked very hard to get us the mortgage we required for our investment property. He is knowledgeable and approachable. Thanks Paul!
Read more
Michael Badham
May 13, 2025
5 stars for our service reviews from clients
Our entire process with Uno went very well. We had a unique set of requirements for our loan and our super friendly broker Mike Parsons managed to secure us the perfect outcome. Mike also worked above and beyond our expectations to make sure the whole process of completing the documentation of switching banks went smoothly.
Read more
Vanessa Koster
May 13, 2025
5 stars for our service reviews from clients
The service recieved from Paul was fantastic. He made the whole process stress free & easy. We started the process from NZ & Paul had everything ready for approval as soon as we landed in Aus. I would highly recommend Paul if you require a mortgage. You won't be dissapointed.
Read more