Prologue-The Shop

‘Did you know The Pole Company is also a shop too?’

‘What is a Pole Company?‘

The Pole Company is indeed a shop Vincent! Its where we can show off the majority of our fine selection of products including curtain poles, blinds, shutters and many other curtain accessories.  Our expert interior designers are on hand to help you select the perfect product for you.

Prelude to Measuring

In the shop after you’ve made your initial decision we offer a free measuring service.  That’s right free!

‘What’ you say?  Say what again.  Say what again.  I dare you.  I double dare you.’

‘What’ Jules is trying to say is contact us for more details.

Measuring

We will come out to visit your home/site to help measure up so we can ensure that your purchase is as accurate as possible.  Whether its curtain poles, shutters or Bay windows, whatever is proving too problematic to measure we will be able to help you.

Prelude to Fitting

Once we have your measurements, product selected and deposit paid we can go ahead and set a fitting date.  Fitting dates can vary depending on product lead times.  Curtain poles depending on which company is putting your order together can take up to 28 working days (please see individual product lead times on each of our online products).  Shutters, blinds and Bay poles products inevitably will take longer due to their made to measure nature.

Fitting dates are always available at The Pole Company unfortunately due to the popularity of the fitting service it can often be up to a month or longer waiting time for an appointment.   Our very helpful team are always ready to organise a suitable date with you for fitting and will let you know of any the cancellations to potentially speed up the process.

Fitting

‘I’m Winston Wolf.  I solve problems‘

On a typical fitting day our fitter will be racing around the local area and further a field to meet your appointment slot and ensure you have your product up and ready asap.  Incidently he’s not called Winston or Wolf.

Epilogue-The Shop

Every journey begins again at the shop or our website.  Please contact us for details on our fitting service.

‘OK everybody be cool!’

Thanks for reading!

Well Google Plus is another social network that will sit alongside our other social networking accounts on Twitter and Facebook.  Through much trial and error, most of which is still ongoing, I can sum up that Google Plus is another virtual space to advertise what The Pole Company is about.  We have posted several items there already including blogs, and a few images curtain pole accessories we have also been testing out the ‘circle‘ application adding many unsuspecting victims/customers to build an audience.

There is also a ‘Hang Out‘ and ‘Huddle‘ application there which involves hanging out via video cam and huddling on instant messenger.  Unfortunately we don’t have a webcam attached to our workstations here so the ‘hang Out’ option will remain redundant for the time being.  However if you are in our circle or your circle or our paths cross on Google Plus we are more than up for a ‘Huddle’, so fire away related questions to us and we’ll do our best to get back to you!

Like any other application this will take time to grow.  We hope that it will stand as successfully as our other online assets.  If you have Google Plus or are thinking of getting it please find us on there and add/follow/circle us at anytime! The link to our profile is here!

Thanks for reading!

Google Plus!

At The Pole Company we have hired some new staff to help out across the business on this special day.  As we have mentioned before, we offer a fitting service for our shop customers.  Today we’ve got a very familiar Mandalorian chap helping us out with fitting duties.  We asked him for a sound bite and his response was as follows…

‘I always get my man.‘

What Mr Fett meant to say was we offer a free expert measuring and onsite consultancy service to make sure that you are confident with what you’re buying and that every detail is correct particularly to avoid issues with some of our custom made products.  Unfortunately due to limitations we can only arrange measures and fittings via the shop but please contact us for more details.  We will also go further a field too; please see our bay window fitting in Cheyne walk London in both the Gallery and original blog item.

Our new shop assistant is an eccentric character to say the least.  He’s referred to himself as the Admiral more than once, although he seems more like a Goldfish to me.  He has also repeatedly answered the phone with ‘IT’S A TRAP!‘.  Despite his enthusiasm and unwavering allegiance to the rebels (which he seems to mention every 5 minutes or so), we would like to highlight our shop is manned 9-5 Monday to Saturday where you can find a selection of products on display or in our many catalogues including curtain poles, blinds, curtain accessories, awnings and shutters.  We have several expert interior designers with 20 years experience behind them and plenty of useful knowledge to help you with any queries or purchase you wish to make.

The website is our second shop if you like.  We have a dedicated IT department who are constantly updating our site and Facebook and Twitter groups.  Again in celebration of today we have hired a couple of familiar faces to help the IT team.   These guys refused to wear our purple shirt and instead showed up dressed in all black.  They also seem to have the same first name which was odd, ‘Darth‘, must be modern.  Here’s what they had to say.

‘We bring together the Dark side of the force to crush our enemies and reign supreme over the web!‘

‘Shut up Vader, everyone knows it is I who will drive this site to victory!‘

‘You?! You’re half the man you used to be Maul!‘

Unfortunately they aren’t getting along today at all.  The old hooded man who lent them to us warned they might be a little angsty at first.  The website however is fully operational.  We sell hundreds of products online at competitive prices. Deliveries of purchases £75 and over  are free!  We also offer sales on selected lines from time to time so stay tuned for news on the next Sales event soon! Please have a browse through our site we’ve made it even easier to do so with our new menu bar (see previous blog for details) or our gallery section which has many albums of jobs we’ve completed or products we are highlighting!

So That is Star wars Day at The Pole Company 2012.  We have experimented with our hiring today and our advice for other shops celebrating/acknowledging this special day say is never hire fictional characters to help run your business.  Bring on 5pm!

Thanks for reading!

‘ITS A TRAP!‘

Oh someone brought Sushi in so we had to move Ackbar upstairs to IT.

In a modern market both of these social network tools are becoming increasingly important to the way businesses operate.  Its a cost effective way of marketing your business and products.  But why should you consider clicking on the link and joining our pages?

Our Facebook group is filled with lots of extras including exclusive photos, images and themes going beyond these blogs and The Pole Company website.  Now we don’t have a top secret super soldier serum to inject into our site but we do have an enthusiastic IT Team working to give you the best social network experience, for example did you catch our previous blog about the showroom collection?  Well you’ll never guess who appeared in the shop in conjunction with the blog’s theme, take a look here.  You can find more of these extras on the home page and links to the relevant blogs and subject material attached to each of them.  We’ve also included pictures of some of our products including curtain poles, finials and shutters with added commentary.  So please click here and like our page today!

For those with a Twitter account we have linked this to our Facebook account so you won’t miss out on any of updates or statuses!  We regularly add content to our profiles, so there is always new information to be found and if you leave a comment or question we will do our best to reply!

Facebook and Twitter Profiles

If you don”t have a Twitter or Facebook account that’s no problem as we’ve made the pages public so you can look at some of the fun we’ve been up to!

Thanks for reading and join us today!

Before we get into the new section cast your mind back to our previous blog about all the changes we’ve made recently to The Pole Company site.  Here we’re expanding on what is included in the showroom collection and unfortunately this blogger has been influenced by a certain film coming out this week so keep glued for the hidden references!

Here at The Pole Company we have assembled a crack team of our best shop curtain pole ranges for our new online selection and we’re bringing the party to you! These include…

Artisan- Iron curtain poles a contender to our other Wrought Iron Curtain pole selection Out of the Fire!  Mjolnir would be proud!

Byron and Byron- Moving to the slightly higher end of the  market, Byron and Byron have created some of the most luxurious wooden curtain poles we sell.  In particular we recommend the Barnwood Collection, a range of curtain poles based on the appeal of the natural wood look.  Mr Barton’s clear favourite.

The Bradley Collection- This is a big collection with ranges including Steel, Elysian, Edge, Decorative, Mio and Foundation.  The types of curtain pole include metal, wood and painted options, one for each type of SHIELD agent! The photography is particularly fantastic!  So be sure to check out the various catalogues we’ve attached to the range!

Cameron Fuller-Again this range focuses on wood curtain poles with a mix of gentle colours perfect for anyone thinking of fitting a bay window!  It’s a range definitely suited for the Banner inside you rather than the Hulk.

Finale- An extremely modern set of metal curtain poles that would not look out of place on Stark’s new suit-but he doesn’t tell me anything so who knows?  Very bright and colourful set of finials and poles, a fitting piece to any modern home.

Walcot House-Now you may recognise the name if you have been keeping up with the blogs, as we do sell Walcot House online already!  Due to the extent and compatibility off the range we aren’t able to display it all but now we’re offering the entire range through our new section!  A particular finial choice from Ms Romanoff to look out for is Moonstone!

So that is our collection of the The Pole Company’s Mightiest (in shop) curtain pole ranges!  Now available for you to look over and consider for your window!  To make things easier, as mentioned above, we’ve included a catalogue for each range which should detail sizes and material available.  If you are interested please enquire our friendly staff are more than happy to take your phone call or your email to make sure your purchase is the right one!

The Pole Company's Showroom Collection in all its glory!

Thanks for reading and if you happen to go to the cinema this weekend there’s one film you should watch to make sense of any of the references made here, something like Whedon’s wanderers?  Anyway until next time Showroom Collection Assemble!  (What do you mean they don’t actually say it in the film….?)

That’s right we’ve been thinking fourth-dimensionally here at The Pole Company and as a result have made some modifications behind the scenes on our website recently.    Now before you start looking, the website hasn’t transformed dramatically but we have made some fundamental changes.  The changes slot in very nicely even if we do say so ourselves, almost as if we went back in time to the website’s conception and added it all in from the start…?  No, too crazy an idea even for these blogs but hop in The Pole Company’s Delorean and we’ll take you on a tour just as soon as the flux capcitator warms up.

That’s right where we’re going we don’t need roads, first stop the new menu bar! A welcome addition which will make manoeuvring the site even easier! The curtain poles are divided by Brand, Material and finish so once you know what you’re looking for you can head straight there by clicking the relevant search term on the menu.  It is great for those customers who are revisiting the site and even better for new visitors unsure about where to start. If you hover over the curtain pole section you will see all of our hard work for yourselves-it’s worth it!

Another slight change you may have noticed down our sidebar is the convenient addition of the Facebook and Twitter icons. This means we won’t be hassling our readers to join our various social network profiles anymore but instead we are handing you the freedom to search our groups at your own leisure.  They are both great if only to see our unique takes on some of the articles we post here and regular updates you will not see on our site.  Just a quick click and you can join today if you like the look of them!

Our final big update is an entirely new section.  A brand new group of curtain poles for you to feast your eyes on and we call it our ‘Showroom Collection’.  This unique section has been utilised to show some of the curtain pole ranges and brands that we aren’t able to sell online for one reason or another.  Curtain pole brands we have included here are Artisan, The Bradley Collection, Byron and Byron, Cameron Fuller, Finale and Walcot House which all come with a summary of the various collections and an additional brochure for each!   Please note this section will be expanding and we can guarantee each of these brands will be explored in greater detail in a future blog soon!

Right, now we are at the end of the tour and we know what you’re thinking about all these changes. ‘This is heavy’ well we assure you that weight has nothing to with it.  Please go and behold our site and experience the changes firsthand; they’ve all been created with our customer’s interests in mind.  Of course if you have any further suggestions we’d love to hear them!  Leave us some feedback here.

Uh, the tours finished Doc, how do we get back?  Don’t worry, as long as we hit that wire with the connecting hook at precisely 88mph the instant the lightning strikes….and everything will be fine!  We’ll see you next time.

Hopefully.

Thanks for reading.

Swish may be a very familiar sounding name; ‘Even I’ve heard of that one!‘ A direct quote The Pole Company’s IT Department,  proving its popularity indefinitely.  The great thing about Swish curtain tracks is its affordable nature.  You will receive a reasonable curtain track without costing too much,which makes it a great alternative to a curtain pole!  Looking at our online collection we have a very humble selection of Swish curtain tracks, these include Swish Supreme Cord and Swish Supreme Glide.

Swish Supreme Cord is a highly durable aluminium curtain track.  It has been pre-corded and sizes start at 150cm continue up until 500cm.  The depth of the profile is 28mm and comes in a White finish only.

Swish Supreme Glide is another highly dependable curtain track.  It is a hand drawn system and sizes, much like the Supreme Cord, begin at 150cm and end at 500cm.  The depth of the profile is also 28mm and also comes in a White finish only.

Other information to note is that both of the curtain tracks can be bent and fitted specifically for bays although you will have to contact us directly for this service.

Our humble Swish Collection

Our online selection may appear small but we also sell Swish curtain tracks in our shop.  We have an extensive range on display as well as a few additional manufacturer’s catalogues for you to take a  look at.  If you’ve taken a liking to Swish tracks good news as we expect to see a few more Swish products heading to the site soon!

So that is Swish curtain tracks explained. Please have a look at our Facebook group and Twitter for updates and more information on upcoming events and exclusive updates!

Thanks for reading!

Energy saving is a huge concern here at The Pole Company.  Over the last few years we have been working with some of the UK’s biggest Shutter, Blind and Curtain companies to create  energy reducing products for our customers.  So as you can probably tell we’ve gone green!  This doesn’t mean we’ve gone to  Star Trek convention, employed the Poddington Peas or become sponsored by Greenpeace but we like to play our part against environment degradation.

With over 20 years of experience here, The Pole Company know their energy saving products, which can reduce the energy loss in your home by up to 50%! and ultimately your energy bill reduced it will be!  Yoda couldn’t have put it better himself.

We know ‘Its not easy being Green‘ so here are some of our energy efficient products as discussed in our Green Leaflet to make things a little easier!

Shutters

Shutters are something we’ve talked a lot about here, just see some of our previous blogs! Shutters are extremely efficient at filtering daylight to create a soft ambient glow and blocking the exorbitant amounts of solar radiation we previously mentioned.  When closed, the shutter’s veins trap a layer of air next to the window and increasing the general temperature of your home!  Might be a stretch for the dustbin though Oscar.

S-Craft Shutters Stylish and energy efficient!

S-Craft is one of our main shutter suppliers and we highly commend their environmental efforts  with their new L-Shape frame design to block out any drafts.

We’d also like to highlight Luxaflex Vinyl shutters which are 100% recyclable! Now that’s some conscious thinking from the toxic avengers at those companies!

Venetian Blinds

S-Craft have created the closest fitting wood Venetian blinds on the market right now.  I know what you’re thinking is S-Craft run by Captain Planet? Surprisingly no, they’re just really committed bunch of people.

What makes them really special is the the cords are placed on the slats which means no cord holes, which means when the slats are closed they mean closed; no more drafts!  Which is a great thing as you wouldn’t like us when we’re drafty…

Curtains With Thermal Lining

So Shutters? tick. blinds? tick.  How about curtains? well the good people at Drapes have designed a range of thermally lined curtains! This makes them  particularly well insulated and needless to say-NO DRAFTS!!

Roman Blind with Thermal Lining 

Drapes are just the company to keep on giving as they’ve been working away to deliver thermally insulated Roman blinds! So in Brightest Day and Blackest Night…these blinds will reduce draft as well as keeping your home warm and stylish!

Luxaflex Duette Architella Shade

With its honeycomb pleated fabric this product is able to trap 3 pockets of air in its 4 layers, doubling the insulating properties of a window in winter and limiting the entry of solar radiation in the summer by half. Great news for you, less so for the Swamp Thing.

Easily one of the most energy efficient blinds on sale at The Pole Company today!

Luxaflex Architella Duette Shades- Displaying the Honeycomb effect

So that is our extensive blog on energy saving at The Pole Company.  Please look at our previous blog about some of the environmental events going on over the next month here in bath with the Bath Homes fit for the future organisation!  If any of those items above interested you why not give us a call or an email?

Please check out our Facebook group and Twitter for updates and more information on upcoming events and exclusive updates! There will be a lot of relate material for this subject!

Remember stay energy conscious and  Cowabunga dudes!  Thanks Michelangelo and thanks for reading!

Here in Bath the organisation Bath Homes fit for the future have set about making a difference on a local scale. The group was put together by Transition Bath, Bath preservation Trust and Bath and North East Somerset Council with the aims to inspire and inform the community about what they can do in their homes in order to reduce their carbon footprint.

Bath Homes fit for the future have put on events for 8 weeks, beginning 5th March and finishing on 27th April, to offer advice including how to retrofit your home making it warmer for less and renewable energy regeneration.

Two particular events we would like to draw to your attention to are the ‘Love Your Windows!‘ event days on Tuesday 13th March and Wednesday 14th March.  These are free drop in practical demonstrations specifically discussing proofing Sash Windows(13th) and Magnetic Secondary Glazing (14th).  These are taking place at 13:30 at The Paragon (BA1 5NA or look here for directions).  There are lots more events which can be found on their site through this link.

The Pole Company has also been in touch with Bath Homes fit for the future and supplied fliers with even more information on saving energy in your home and saving money on your energy bill for our shutters, blind and curtain products!  If you don’t think you’ll be able to attend the meeting, our flier can be seen here Green Leaflet, but we’ll also be blogging specifically on our energy conscious efforts soon so stay tuned for that!

Energy Saving in Style!

So please take advantage of these events, for a full list look here.  For more information on the other organisations involved please visit:

Transition Bath

http://www.transitionbath.org/welcome

Bath Preservation Trust

http://www.bath-preservation-trust.org.uk/

North East Somerset Council

http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/Pages/default.aspx

Please have a look at our Facebook group and Twitter for updates and more information on upcoming events and exclusive updates!  Thanks for reading!

Integra curtain tracks is another of our online metal curtain track ranges.  The depth of the track ranges from 19mm and 26mm, with lengths up to 310cm and 600cm depending on the type of Integra curtain track you select.   Options for this range include regular, Discreet face fix, Discreet top fix, Double Duty Face fix,  Double duty top fix and Ultraglide as well as the corded and hand drawn options for the Regular, Discreet and Double duty sets.  Now these options may sound a little confusing so here is a brief summary of each of these below to help you identify which option suits you best.

Regular curtain track-  This is a standard white Integra curtain track.  For quick and easy appliance this type of curtain track is a great fit for all windows.

Integra Regular

Discreet Curtain track-  Like the name suggests these are minimal curtain tracks.  They have a simple yet efficient look which position well within any window setting for both modern and older homes.  They are perfect for light curtains in straight or bay settings too.

Integra Discreet

Double Duty curtain track-  These curtain tracks are a bit more sturdy than the Discreet range.  Aimed at heavier curtain fabrics they have been designed to support denser curtains which make them ideal for traditional window settings, both for straight or Bay windows.

Integra Double Duty

Top fix curtain track-  This refers to the position in which the curtain track can be placed.  For this particular option the curtain track will be fixed into the ceiling or the lintel.

Face fix curtain track-  This again refers to the position of the the curtain track.  Here the curtain track is fixed into the window frame.  The image below shows how the two differ.

Face Fix Top Fix options

Ultraglide curtain track-   This is a pre-corded, extendable white, rolled steel curtain track including silicon enriched gliders which can be added or removed very easily.

Integra Ultraglide

We hope this clears up what these all mean!  However to help explain Integra even more,  we have added fitting instructions through an online PDF with as many Integra products as possible.  For further information please contact our staff who are more than happy to help with any questions you may have.

So that is Integra briefly explained, hopefully this will inspire you to take a look at our curtain tracks section today!  Please look at our Facebook group and Twitter profile to see what we come up with over there on Integra too.