Glenn Garrett set up Quietpc.com out of frustration.

A keen computer engineer and environmentalist, he found himself distracted by the noise his PCs made both at work and at home.

He struggled to find products to fix the situation and began sourcing noise reduction products to bring to the UK market - and so Quietpc.com was born.

Quietpc.com, which has entered the e-commerce Business of the Year category of the Gazette & Herald Business Awards, is a family-run online business based near Malton, which had humble origins further afield.

"With no business experience, my living room in Hampshire was the first headquarters for Quietpc.com," said Glenn.

To keep overheads to a minimum, a simple website was set up and family enlisted to help to pick, pack and dispatch customer orders.

"When I launched the business, awareness of the PC noise issue and the advantages of a solution were relatively unknown except in technical circles," said Glenn.

He decided to employ a PR agency to let the public know that there were noise solutions out there.

"Within months, Quietpc.com had caused quite a stir with the press and public, and people started flocking to the website to find out more information," said Glenn.

Within a year it was obvious that additional space was required to keep up with demand.

More customers were returning and big business electronics customers were approaching the company.

"Quietpc.com had reached the crossroads - to expand and cope with the demand, or risk losing customers and turning business away," said Glenn.

A native of North Yorkshire, he bought a farm in Brawby, near Malton, to enable the business to expand.

"Being passionate about the environment and working in natural surroundings, I was delighted to move to the farm," said Glenn.

Since it started, Quietpc.com has bucked the trend and excelled in an industry sector which has faced tough times.

Year-on-year turnover and profits have increased, last year hitting the £1.5 million plus milestone while achieving an increase in profits of 21 per cent for 2003-4.

Glenn believes the key to Quietpc.com's success has been the loyalty of its staff.

"Everyone involved has developed and grown with the company, improving their product knowledge and online business acumen along the way.

"Even today, I can't believe my hobby could have grown from a living room start-up into a thriving commercial company, allowing me to employ friends, family and members of the local community."

Still as passionate today about his cause, he's proud that his products actually make a difference.

Helping to bring the issue of noise pollution to the forefront of people's minds, and providing solutions for specialised industry such as music and video products as well as for the home and living room PC, Quietpc.com gives Glenn and his team a tremendous sense of achievement.

Updated: 16:19 Wednesday, July 27, 2005