DECEMBER NEWSLETTER 2025

Message From Ian Baxter

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everybody in the company for their valuable contributions across the year. It may be obvious, but everyone plays a vital part in the process of making us the Specialist Blind Company.

Despite a challenging market, your efforts have enabled us to consolidate our position as leaders in the UK blind industry.

The Sales Team recently met in the Ashford Showroom, keeping everyone up to date with recent innovations and developments. In addition, we spent a significant amount of time on how we could improve our individual and team performance to achieve the highest order value going forward. We discussed best practice within the team (with many helpful tips from Howard Prince) and how to set ourselves apart from companies providing inferior products and services, and frankly offering low and ridiculous pricing.

During the meeting we looked at Appeal Home Shading – historically one of our main competitors – who have experienced a significant decline over the past three years, including millions in lost sales and a substantial loss of hundreds of thousands in 2024. This reinforces an important truth: low pricing ultimately leads to weakened performance and reduced long-term viability

The following day, I received a call from Arnaud Keat, who said he had enjoyed the meeting. However Arnaud highlighted an important point: starting negotiations with very low pricing leaves little room for movement and didn’t understand why some of the team started their negotiations at a very low price. He noted that whether you begin at £11,000, £10,000 or £9,000, the initial reaction from customers may be surprise or shock, but it rarely impacts the final outcome or conversion rate. What it does influence is the achievable order value and overall profitability – benefiting both the salesperson and the company.

Two days after the meeting I received a call from Steve Locker as he was driving home. He said that he had taken on board what Howard Prince and I had said at the meeting and just left a customer with a quote for £4,000 with significant room for negotiation, as the customer already had an appointment the following morning with John Lewis, providing a quotation for Luxaflex (Hunter Douglas) roller blinds. As Steve was in the area, the customer agreed that he could return at lunchtime to conclude business. The John Lewis – Luxaflex price was £3,618. Steve took the order at £3,800 by including a Home hub, which was the cherry on the cake for the customer. He wanted to buy from us because he was really impressed with the company, with Steve and in particular because he loved our exclusive 90mm linear fascia.

The moral of the story is that by starting with a higher price, you are likely to achieve a healthy order value – start with a low price and you can guarantee a low order value! Steve started high, negotiated with the customer and achieved a price that they were both happy with – the customer got value for money for a superior product and Steve got full commission on the order- a win/win! 

So, the challenge is on for the Sales Team in the coming Year – take a leaf out of Howard’s, Arnaud’s and Steve’s book – work smarter, not harder!

Finally, I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy New Year.

Best Wishes,

Ian

Message from Richard Jones

MESSAGE FROM KEVIN, TOM & ELLIE

Thank you all for your hard work this year. The last 12 months have been a time of change within our industry, and we are pleased to finish this year with a very busy December after the hard start we had.

To all those who have been with the company for many years now, thank you for your patience and resilience during the harder times, and to those we have welcomed this year, we thank you for the fresh energy and enthusiasm you have brought to the team.

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year. Enjoy the time off and we look forward to welcoming you back in January.

From Kevin, Tom & Ellie

🎄 DECEMBER Festivities 🎄

Contracts Team Annual Christmas Get Together

This year we put on our best frocks (or was that just Sean?) and ventured out with our better halves, on a very wet and windy night in Ashford. A great night of laughter, fantastic Italian food and a modest amount of alcohol! Perfect night to kick off celebrations for the festive season.

Christmas Jumper Day ☃️

We don’t need an excuse to be festive (or is that just Sean again??) so always participate in the annual Christmas Jumper day. A proper rogues gallery!

FaCTORY RAFFLE

As the year draws to a close in the factory, we held a staff raffle to distribute gifts from our suppliers. This year’s top prizes included a deluxe hamper and the much sought-after TOIL hours. Thank you to Jayne for arranging many of our prizes.

We gathered together afterwards for tea and cake for those who couldn’t make our company bowling night at the end of November.

ALAN Becoming Santa for a Day

This all came about through the gym I’ve been attending since February. A few weeks ago, one of the instructors asked if I’d be willing to play Santa at a children’s Christmas party, as he was unavailable for the day and the gym owner needed someone to step in. I’d gotten to know the owner quite well, so I was happy to help, especially as it was for the kids at Christmas.

It turned out to be the owner’s family’s annual festive gathering. He usually plays Santa himself, but some of the older children had begun to realise that “Santa” was actually “Uncle Mike,” so he wanted someone new this year. He provided a very professional Santa suit – far more authentic than I expected.

While the children were in a private room at a local soft-play centre, I changed in a store cupboard and made my surprise entrance with their presents. A few of the older kids looked genuinely confused, especially with “Uncle Mike” standing there taking photos instead.

It was a heartwarming and fun experience, though wearing the suit was a workout in itself – I was absolutely roasting. I’ve no idea how anyone manages a full shift dressed as Santa! 🎅✨- Alan Dawes

Secret SANTA GATHERING

December brought plenty of festive cheer to the Head Office as the Contracts Team made their annual trip up to Ewell for our much-loved Secret Santa gift exchange. The office was soon filled with laughter as gifts were unwrapped, bringing plenty of smiles and a great sense of festive fun as everyone enjoyed seeing what surprises were in store. 🎁

Of course, no Christmas get-together would be complete without festive snacks, and the spread did not disappoint, giving the team a chance to relax, catch up, and enjoy some time together.

It was a lovely way to mark the end of the year, celebrate the season, and enjoy some well-earned Christmas cheer with colleagues. 🎄

We would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to all our colleagues for your hard work over the past year. We look forward to the new year ahead and will be back in the office on Monday 5th of January.

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year ✨

Thank You From our chosen charity

Just a quick email to say thank you very much to you and everyone at Specialist Blinds for supporting us again this year! We really appreciate your donation – and the shout-out on social media too, which helps us reach new potential-supporters as well as spreading word of our work.

I hope you and your team have a lovely Christmas, and thank you again!

Robert Eyers

Fundraising Manager

Letter from the CEO

Dear everyone at Specialist Blinds,

On behalf of all the staff and volunteers at York Road Project, we would like to say thank you for your very generous Christmas donation of £250.

Your kind contribution means a lot to us, and enables our team to provide essential services to those experiencing homelessness in Woking, Waverley, and nearby areas. This ranges from us providing emergency and outreach services, to transitional support for clients so they may secure longer-term accommodation and independence.

We’re very grateful that you chose to support York Road Project in this way. With your support, we can defeat homelessness together.

Best wishes,

Cherisse Dealtry

Chief Executive

DeCEMBER Birthday Celebrations

Happy Birthday to all our wonderful colleagues who celebrated their birthdays in December! Wishing you a fantastic year ahead filled with happiness, success, and good health. Here’s to many more celebrations! 🎉🥳🎉

🎉Congratulations🎉

Factory Employee of the Month

Our employee of the month for December is

Andrew Murray🥳🥇

I’m pleased to announce the employee of the month for December is Andrew Murray. Andrew always keeps his head down and gets on with his work as well as going out of his way to help other departments with deliveries. Andrew had several nominations from the team, showing his hard work is recognised by his colleagues as well as the management team.
– Ellie Smith-Anderson