Just before Christmas in 2002, I was made redundant from my engineering job in Lancashire. It came out of the blue, and I remember saying to my wife, Mel, "No one person is ever going to control our financial life again."

We didn't have a grand plan — just determination. By February 2003, we'd started a small blinds business from our Lancashire garage. Mel had been an interior designer, so she knew fabrics, colours, and what people wanted in their homes. I handled the measuring, the making, and the fitting — mostly after finishing my day job.

By October that same year, I couldn't afford to go to work anymore. The blinds business had taken over, and we decided to go all in. That was the moment our journey truly began.

In the beginning we traded under the name Jaynes Blinds — a small, local setup that reflected how personal the business was back then. As our reputation spread beyond Lancashire and into neighbouring Yorkshire, we realised the name no longer fit the areas we were serving. That's when Yorkshire Blinds was born — a name that captured the pride, craftsmanship, and identity we wanted to carry nationwide.

It began with one van, a sewing machine, and a stack of fabric samples. Mel would visit customers after work, sketch designs, and take orders; I'd make and fit each one by hand. Our kitchen table was the office, the garage was the workshop, and every penny counted.

Those early days were full of late nights and long weekends. But we learned that doing the small things right — turning up, listening carefully, cleaning up properly — built trust faster than any marketing campaign ever could. Our first customers were neighbours and friends. They told others. That word-of-mouth reputation became our lifeline, and it's still the foundation of how we do business today.

The blinds industry changed fast. Big national chains and online stores started offering cheap deals and quick delivery. It was easy to feel overshadowed. But we quickly realised that service was the one thing they couldn't mass-produce. People didn't just want blinds; they wanted someone they could trust to measure, fit, and stand by the work. So rather than chase the lowest price, we focused on quality, free fitting, and genuine aftercare. That decision set our path. While others cut corners, we doubled down on craftsmanship — and that's what kept customers coming back.

As we grew, we made a simple rule: never lose the personal touch. We trained local fitters, built an in-house manufacturing team, and kept production under our own roof so we could control quality. Mel's design background gave us an edge — she could instantly see what would suit a space. That blend of design and engineering became our signature: stylish blinds, precision-made.

We also launched our mobile showroom service — vans packed with hundreds of fabrics and systems that bring the full showroom experience to customers' doors. It's personal, convenient, and still one of our most popular ideas.

When COVID-19 hit, everything stopped overnight. Like most small businesses, we were worried — but instead of sitting still, we decided to invest. Rather than spending the government support on short-term survival, we used it to build our first e-commerce website, yorkshireblinds.co.uk. That move changed everything.
For the first time, customers could order made-to-measure blinds online while still getting our signature local fitting service. What started as a necessity during lockdown became the foundation of our national expansion. It was the point where Yorkshire Blinds stopped being just a local installer and became a national brand.

Today, Yorkshire Blinds has grown far beyond that Lancashire garage. We now manufacture and fit blinds across Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cumbria, and the North East — serving both homeowners and businesses. In November 2023, we took our next step by launching InHouse Blinds Ireland at inhouseblinds.ie. The Irish arm follows the same philosophy: local service, factory-direct quality, and family values at the heart of everything.

From Cork to Dublin, the InHouse Blinds Ireland team brings the same free fitting and precision manufacturing that began two decades ago in that Lancashire garage. It's proof that you can grow internationally without losing what made you special.

After more than 20 years in business, a few lessons stand out: listen to your customers — they'll always tell you what's working and what isn't. Adapt before you're forced to. The world changes quickly; stay one step ahead. Value your people. A great team turns ideas into reality. Stay hands-on. Never get too big to care. And remember your why. We started for independence and family — and that's still our compass today.

What started as a small garage project has become a business that supports jobs, apprenticeships, and local economies across two countries. But at its heart, it's still the same: family, quality, and pride in a job well done. Our next chapter is to continue expanding the free fitting model nationwide while protecting the integrity that got us here. Because success isn't about becoming the biggest — it's about staying true to who you are.

If our journey proves anything, it's that sometimes redundancy isn't the end. It's the start of something extraordinary. So to anyone standing where we once stood: take the leap. You don't need deep pockets — just determination, honesty, and a belief in yourself.

Written by Shane and Mel Gowen, founders of Yorkshire Blinds and InHouse Blinds Ireland — a family-run business that began in a Lancashire garage in Burnley in 2003 and now proudly serves homes across the UK and Ireland.