THE decision to break away from the normal nine to five routine and set-up his own business was a natural one for Brendan O’Sullivan, Managing Director of The Blind-Maker.

Having worked for a number of years with the Health Board, Brendan was always eager to find out what it would be like to be his own boss and set up his own enterprise; a dream which was realised 15-years-ago when he decided to take a leap of faith and set-up the Blind-Maker.

Brendan’s introduction to the blind business came almost 18-years-ago when he answered an ad in his local paper that would change his future career path. The position, a local agent for a UK blinds company, was part-time, and would give Brendan the introduction he needed to the growing blind business. Three years after answering the advertisement and having gained a wealth of experience in the field, Brendan decided that the time was right to establish his own business and so The Blind-Maker was born.

In its infancy, the Blind-Maker was pretty much a one-man-show with Brendan responsible for measuring, making, fitting, servicing and selling their blinds. The actual act of making the blinds seemed natural to Brendan who was already more than accustomed to a sewing machine. Afterall his grandfather; the former Lord Mayor of Cork, Walter Furlong had been a master tailor and Brendan had learned the real tricks of the sewing trade from him. “Sewing fell easily and naturally to me and in the early days I actually even used my grandfather’s, now antique, Singer to make the blinds,” he said adding, “I suppose it was in my blood.”

Far from his nine-to-five routine, Brendan found himself working every hour of the day he could in a bid to develop the company and one Christmas Eve even found himself working through to the early hours of the morning, fitting the blinds for a young family living near the Lough in time for Christmas.

However, all this hard work was rewarded and as Cork continued to prosper, the Blind-Maker continued to grow. In fact, the business was proving so successful that Brendan found himself in a position where he could start taking on his own employees and grow his business . Wanting to ensure he maintained the integrity of the business and the quality of its produce, he sought out qualified sewing machinists to work at his factory. He also invested heavily in the best quality commercial sewing machines which he believed to be absolutely essential to his produce.

Again, this investment paid off and just recently Brendan relocated the Blind-Maker’s operations to a new facility at Southside Industrial Estate on the Pouladuff Road where he employs 22 people. Today, the company which once specialised mainly in fabric blinds stocks a huge range of wooden, roller, vertical and woven wood blinds in a variety of colours, textures and prints to suit a range of budgets. Today, as the day Brendan started the company, the core emphasis is on quality and Brendan is adamant that while other companies are beginning to outsource the production of blinds, this is something that the Blind-Maker intends to keep tightly in the hands of the company itself. “I would never rely on someone else manufacturing the blinds and never could because this allows the quality to be diluted, it takes the control away and as long as we produce our own blinds, we control their quality,” he said.

Looking to the future, Brendan said he plans to continue to grow the business over the coming years. He said that the recent move to the Pouladuff Road has allowed him to expand the business further; to take on more staff and to bring in more machinery and that over the years ahead he will continue to invest in his staff and the most up-to-date machinery to keep the Blind-Maker at the position it is at today.

The Blind-Maker is located at Southside Industrial Estate (near EZ living), Pouladuff Road, Togher, Cork.

Contact; 021-4320111 or log on to www.theblindmaker.ie.

Comments (0) »

Show/Hide comment form

Name

Email

Title

Comment

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment