Chance job interview at 35,000 feet launches new service for Derby firm
Added by Love Business East Midlands | 1 October 2024
UPDATED: 1 October 2024
A Notts-based seamstress has seen her business take off after a casual chat on a holiday plane landed her a job offer she could not refuse.
The chance meeting on board a Ryanair flight from East Midlands Airport to Carcassonne in the South of France has led to Derby firm Raynesway Blinds expanding its service package to include tailor-made Roman blinds.
When Raynesway Blinds employee Teresa Griffin took a well-earned break from work and boarded her flight in May, the last thing she expected was to be carrying out a job interview.
But she got chatting with the woman in the next seat, who turned out to be professional seamstress Zoe Nurse, who was looking forward to a planned ‘girly getaway’.
After a short period of turbulence, Raynesway Blinds, formerly Raynesway Interiors, of Derby Road, Spondon, had recently been taken over by the family of the late founder Bob Pearce with the help of additional loans from staff members.
Moving forward, the company, which supplies all manner of window coverings and awnings, was looking for new ways to add value to its services.
Zoe, 57, who runs Lotus Furnishings of Bingham, Nottinghamshire, said:
“I was sat in a row of three and next to me was Teresa. We got chatting and, after I had explained my business as a soft furnishings maker, she said, that's interesting, we are looking for a maker.”
The pair chatted like old friends for the just under two-hour flight and ended up deciding on a potential collaboration.
Teresa said:
“I guess I had to wing it a bit, but it was fate that we were sat next to each other on the plane. As a business, we had been looking for a seamstress to reintroduce the Roman blinds service that we once offered.
“We have a lot of repeat business so this was a line of expansion we were already talking about. On my return, I passed Zoe’s details to Tony Hales, our executive director, and the deal that started as a ‘partnership on the plane’ was done.”
Now, Zoe has teamed up with the firm to supply its bespoke Roman blinds. She said:
“Raynesway Blinds holds my fabric book, and I effectively supply the sewing element of the service.
“I’ve been a maker for 30 years and started my own business in 2016. I specialise in hand-stitched Roman blinds – our USP is invisible-stitched, made-to-measure Roman blinds.”
She added:
“As well as private clients, for which I have lots of repeat and recommendation business, I work for various trade clients, including interior designers.
“While my business has taken off, I was looking for more trade-only clients, so this collaboration works extremely well, and our services and ethics align and complement each other.”
The new partnership means that both firms can provide their clients with an extensive all-round service from like-minded independent businesses.
Raynesway Blinds provides a fully comprehensive service for measuring, supplying and fitting blinds, shutters and awnings in anything from domestic homes to schools and offices.
Executive director Tony Hales said:
“We are delighted to have Zoe as a collaborative partner. She really is first-class at what she does. Her attention to detail and the quality fabric she works with exactly mirrors our own ethos.
“This latest extension of our services confirms our expansion plans and our bright future. The sky’s the limit!”
For more information about Raynesway Blinds, visit www.rayneswayblinds.com or call 01332 280585.
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