Established in 2017 and based in Westhoughton just outside Bolton in the North West of England, Blinds & Shutters by Nicola Jane are well suited to cover Lancashire, Manchester, Cumbria, Cheshire & North Wales – we head over to Yorkshire occasionally too!
The team have experience of working all over the UK so please get in touch to discuss your requirement if out of the area’s above.
Blinds & Shutters By Nicola Jane is a family run business. By Nicola Jane was established to enable Nicola Jane and her husband Andrew, utilise Andrews extensive experience within the blind industry. Andrew has been working in the blind industry in one way or another for many years as his father also worked in the blind industry.
The Jones family look forward to helping you keep up with Jones’s and to helping Bolton and surrounds have beautifully dressed windows
Having spent a number of years working within the IT and Recruitment sectors, not forgetting her 20’s working in different childcare settings. Nicola Jane took some time out of the corporate World to spend time with her family & whilst her & Andrew adopted their son Billy. During this ‘timeout’ Nicola Jane set up Blinds & Shutters by Nicola Jane to showcase husband Andrews talents!
Although initially new to the blind industry in 2017, Nicola Jane brings a wealth of customer service experience and an understanding that choosing home furnishings can be a difficult and costly decision to make so is happy to invest her time into ensuring you have the perfect solution for your need.
Andrew is married to Nicola Jane and the reason behind Blinds & Curtains by Nicola Jane’s creation. With over 30 years experience working in the blind industry as a fitter and surveyor, as well as being brought up in a blind selling and fitting household. Andrew has fitted window dressings for the rich and famous as well as in too many offices & homes to mention.
Over the years Andrew has faced lots of window dressing challenges and is able to advise with knowledge what your best solution could be and his strive for perfection ensures an excellent fitting whatever product you chose.
Blind safety is a subject the By Nicola Jane team are all well versed in. Public awareness of the strangulation risk to young children & vulnerable adults presented by blind cords and chains led the authorities to introduce stricter safety standards.
New blinds must be 'safe by design' or be supplied with appropriate child safety devices installed. A blind which is safe by design has no cords or chains, or the cords are concealed or tensioned. Therefore blinds must either have no accessible cords (no strangulation risk) or be supplied with child safety devices which must be fitted as per the manufacturer's instructions. Warning notices must be supplied with all blinds. The standard also imposes a maximum cord and chain length and minimum fixing heights. This directly affects the minimum distance a looped control cord can be from the floor and must (in most cases) be fixed to a wall/frame.
Blind safety devices fall into the following categories:
Safety chain break - Splits the chain loop apart should a person become entangled in the loop.
Chain tensioning device - Keeps chain/cord loops under continuous tension and secures them to the wall, so stops the cord or chain from forming a loop big enough for a head to fit through
Breakaway cord connector - Releases cords safely when sideways pressure applied.
Cleats - Secure loose cords to the wall out of reach
Anti tangle toggles - Used to prevent the 2 cords that tilt a metal or wood venetian blind from forming a knot. Although the cords may wrap around each other, the design of the toggle will allow them to unravel in the event of entanglement
'Safe by Design' options are available for the majority of standard blinds such as wand operation for vertical blinds or motorised blinds. Hand operated Perfect fit blinds are safe by design.
By Nicola Jane offer a free site survey to inspect existing blinds in public buildings including schools, hospitals and offices. We will provide a detailed report on all blinds that either meet or do not meet the compliance and will advise on the best way to comply with current legislation.
Why not take this opportunity to inspect all your blinds at home or in your workplace - if they do not have a safety device fitted or are not child safe in design in the interest of safety you should address.
If you have any questions regarding blind safety and blinds or want advice on how to improve a current blind, please do not hesitate to contact us. We can talk you through the types of safety devices on offer and supply you with ones to fit to your existing blinds if required.
Useful Links:
BBSA – British Blind & Shutter Association https://bbsa.org.uk/
ROSPA – Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents https://www.rospa.com/
Make it Safe Campaign https://www.makeitsafe.org.uk/