A BLINDS supplier based in Poole has been forced to close three Dorset showrooms and make 30 people redundant in the run up to Christmas.

Broadview Blinds has announced the closure of its domestic blinds business due to increasingly difficult trading conditions.

Showrooms in Christchurch, Ferndown and Westbourne will close which means nine part-time members of staff will be made redundant.

Managing Director of Broadview Blinds Mark Pratt said: “The increasing pressure from on-line retailers and major chain stores means that Broadview cannot continue to maintain a viable business in the domestic market.

“To survive, we have decided to play to our strengths where we can provide solutions that others cannot provide so easily.

“This has necessitated making changes in resource levels across the company and redundancies are the unavoidable consequence of this.

“It is the first time in Broadview’s history that we have had to do this, which we greatly regret, but it is necessary in order to preserve our business.”

As the manufacture of internal blinds comes to an end, six full-time staff will leave Broadview’s factory showroom site on Hatchpond Road, Poole.

A further 15 positions will be made redundant outside Dorset, with three showrooms in Hampshire closing in Hedge End, Portsmouth and Totton, as well as the closure of showrooms in Chichester, Bognor, and Farnham.

Broadview’s head office in Poole will continue to operate as a manufacturing base focusing exclusively as a blinds supplier to businesses, education and luxury homes.

The restructure will not affect any orders placed as all customers will have their orders fulfilled, according to Broadview Blinds.

Brian English, the owner of competitor Insignia Blinds said: “I was walking past the showroom in Westbourne and I saw a notice had been put up announcing the closure. It’s such a shame that so many people will lose their jobs just before Christmas.”