Harmany Blinds was established by Geoff Harman more than 30 years ago. The company was recently acquired by the Peerless Group and Geoff has stayed on in a management and consultancy role

Q. How has the acquisition gone?
A. It all went through very smoothly, we managed to complete within a month despite the lawyers.


Q. What attracted you to the Blinds sector?
A. The sales pattern is the opposite of the other businesses in the group which should help to even out the sales over the year.

Q. How do you hope to move the company forward?
A. Although Harmany is well known in the industry and established for over 30 years the profile is quite low. A lot of sales are to the local trade and advertising has been very limited. We intend to significantly increase the advertising budget and hope to reach more trade businesses outside the Midlands area where Harmany is not so well known. Some of the manufacturing practices are also transferable so we should be able to increase efficiency.


Q.What have been your early observations of the Blinds industry, how does it differ to the gas controls and components sector?
A. The Blinds market seems to be very close knit, every one seems to know every one else. Most of the market is quite niche and small specialised purpose made products seem common with short delivery times expected. We are a little more used to high volume with scheduled deliveries to large blue chip companies such as Dimplex and Indesit etc.


Q. Are the other companies in the Group well established?
A. Yes, Peerless can trace its roots back to 1895, Intercontrol was established over 20 years ago, the new boy is Tech Control which was started in 1998.


Q. How is the group placed to back up the new venture?
A. We have a lot of expertise in both production and marketing. In addition, the financial backing to promote Harmany and invest in new equipment and products will give Harmany the much needed support to grow the business.


Q. Will you be looking to develop the product offering?
A. We have several new products ready for launch – so watch this space!


Q. Where do you see the growth in this sector?
A. I think there is a lot of potential growth for products that are easy to fit.


Q. How do you feel the current economic climate will affect the industry?
A. It seems historically that this market always suffers first in any recession but is also the first to recover.


Q. Where do you see the company in five years time?
A. We would like to double sales.


Q. What are your customers looking for from you?
A. Good service, quality products and a competitive price.

• Peerless Group T: 0121 344 3434