With a strong portfolio and robust networks, Decora is shaping the future of window coverings
Established in 1979, Decora Blind Systems (Decora) is a family-owned business that has grown into one of the most successful and trusted blind manufacturers in the UK and Europe. As a B2B supplier, Decora distributes its wide range of blind types and components, as well as wholesale and made-to-measure solutions, to more than 3000 trade accounts. In 2018, Decora’s founders formed the Mzuri Group, which now operates a global portfolio of 14 companies, which combined enable those in the luxury window covering market to achieve their full potential.
Presenting a diverse range of innovative systems and fabrics, Decora combines pioneering trend-driven designs with exclusive style across four key brands:
Sunwood, which offers wood and faux wood venetian blinds; Santa Fe, a range of handcrafted shutters; Cruze window blind systems which boast innovative patented engineering alongside motorized home automation solutions; and The Fabric Box, the UK’s leading collection of roller and vertical fabric blinds, including a new roman and curtain collection. Manufacturing more than 25,000 blinds every week, Decora operates 266,000 square feet of state-of-the-art production facilities in England and Northern Ireland, as well as an additional 50,000-square-foot warehouse space in Birmingham.
Managing Director Andrew Bingham joins us to expand on the company’s operations and product portfolio. “Around 75 percent of our business is supplying made-to-measure window blinds focusing on roller, vertical, pleated, venetian, roof, and shutters,” Andrew opens. “A further 25 percent of our revenue is from wholesale distribution of other window blinds manufacturers, which we aim to service and fulfil within 24 hours from both our Lisburn site and our distribution center in Birmingham.
“For products made in the UK, we target a shorter lead time of five working days for blinds and nine days for shutters. At our main site in Huddersfield, we’ve developed a proposition to offer next-day service. Orders placed before 11am are manufactured and dispatched on the same day and delivered the following day. Similarly, our operation in Lisburn has a priority service for our growing range of Hampton shutters, where shutters are manufactured within three days and delivered within seven days.
“For many years, Sunwood has been the market leader in the UK’s wood venetian blinds market,” he adds. “To strengthen its position, we’ve re-launched the venetian blinds range to bring new colors that align with current home and interior trends. We’ve also added a range of bamboo blinds to offer a more sustainable product, with customers now having options for contemporary, Scandi, or eco-friendly products.”
Through the Mzuri Group, Decora has recently expanded into the soft blinds market with roman blinds and curtains. “With Mzuri’s acquisition of Illumin8 in Dubai, which manufactures made-to-measure orders for the UK market within seven-to-ten working days, we’re making soft blinds and curtains a major focus,” Andrew states. “We’ve launched a new simplified range with a full training program to target window blind fitters and companies that haven’t previously worked with soft blinds. This gives our trade partners the opportunity to secure increased sales, upsell window dressings, and become a one-stop shop for end consumers.”
To meet demand across its portfolio of products, Decora has a strong manufacturing network comprising four sites in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, as well as a site in Huddersfield, England, and a distribution warehouse in Birmingham. “As we make bespoke sized products with many options and variations, our manufacturing process is very labor intensive,” Andrew explains. “We rely heavily on process engineers and quality departments, and we have a comprehensive training plan for new employees. However, we are adding automation where possible, such as barcode scanning, systematic order processing and scheduling, patented cutting processes for wood blinds, and bespoke automated packaging machines.
“We’re also expanding the production of Hampton shutters in the UK due to increased demand for faster lead times. We supply our trade partners with shutters within three weeks, compared to a product made in China which takes around ten-to-12 weeks. We added a fourth production line for Hampton shutters in 2024 and we’re adding a fifth line in 2026, taking our daily output to more than 350 shutters per day. This efficiency and scale, in combination with our supply partners, is enabling us to keep our pricing competitive despite our products requiring more labor.”
Alongside its manufacturing facilities, Decora has a robust logistics network designed to efficiently and safely deliver products across Europe. “Due to the nature of our products and the varying package sizes, we partner with several couriers to service customers depending on the products their networks allow,” Andrew explains. “We’ve developed a great system from our Birmingham warehouse that allows us to send out dedicated vans on specific days. For shutters, which are typically much larger and higher priced, we operate a partnership with a 3PL to ship, offload, sort, and distribute products across the UK.”
Sustainability plays a key role in Decora’s operations, with many ongoing initiatives to support environmentally friendly practices. “We’ve been on this journey for many years, and we’ve installed the maximum number of solar panels to sustainably power two of our factories,” Andrew shares. “We purchase electricity from renewable sources where possible, and we use an energy monitoring system to ensure optimal usage.
“In the factory, we have several processes and plans, such as segregated waste streams and partnerships with disposal partners to ensure we optimize our recyclable materials. When it comes to packaging, our plastic packaging and wrapping from suppliers contains a minimum of 20 percent recycled post-consumer material, and although we use cardboard packaging for most products, we’re constantly reviewing the protective elements with an aim to be completely plastic free by 2030.”
Speaking with Andrew shows that Decora is clearly on a growth journey in terms of both products and markets, with complementary companies across the Mzuri Group. “2026 will be a year of planned growth and further investment, including the expansion of a fifth line in Hampton shutters and further growth of our Huddersfield site to expand our short lead time and priority services,” Andrew shares.
“We want to focus on continuing to be as easy as possible to work with and the supplier of choice to our trade customers. We’ve reevaluated what’s important to our customers, and we’re bringing our customer call center back in house, as well as extending our phoneline operating hours, extending our no quibble policies, and investing in user-friendly portals and systems.
“As part of the Mzuri Group, the group’s journey will evolve over the next five years as they continue to acquire companies,” Andrew concludes. “However, Decora will continue in the same vein; reinvest in our products, develop new systems, adopt leaner production processes to mitigate labor shortages, and continue to service our customer base to the best of our ability.”