A long-established family business is embracing change by making investments for the future.

It’s a case of ’all in the family’ with three generations now having been involved in the Talbot & Son retail entreprise, which is more than 45 years old.

Earlier this year Business News reported on how several Manx families have strived to keep up with the challenges of running independent businesses .

Now Talbot & Son has joined the debate which is emerging as a hot topic in the island’s business and retail community.

Talbot & Son claims to be the Isle of Man’s longest established blinds manufacturer and supplier.

It runs a dedicated blind and curtain showroom with more than 5,000 square feet of manufacturing workshops and showroom displays over three floors at its premises in Derby Square, Douglas.

’Third generation’ Simon Talbot joined the business in 2004 starting out as a fitter and has since honed his skills.

Mr Talbot said: ’To continue to grow, we can’t stand still, we must embrace change.

’Over the last six months we have made many developments, one of which is the investment in technology and software which will enable us to become a paperless office and in doing so, will improve our efficiency in all areas of the business.’

The family said they could not discuss the actual amount they have spent on the investment but stress they are continually investing - especially in areas which are constantly evolving such as the internet (they are currently having a new website built), software and technology and showroom displays, which are due to be installed in January 2020.

Mr Talbot and his sister, Kirsty Wilson (nee Talbot) have joined their father, Andy Talbot as directors and work alongside both their parents in the family business and consequently become the third generation of Talbot & Son.

It’s a real family affair for the business, established in the 1970s, and was run from a small workshop under Simon and Kirsty’s grandfather, Bob Talbot’s house in Santon, where Andy worked alongside his dad and they were shortly joined in the mid-70s by Andy’s brother-in-law, Ian Large, who became Andy’s business partner and co-director on Bob’s retirement.

Andy’s wife, Hilary and Ian’s wife, Gillian were also drafted in along the way and joined the rapidly expanding team.

Simon Talbot said: ’I’m proud to be following in dad’s and grandad’s footsteps and I’m enjoying working alongside Kirsty too.

’We both have different skill sets, which helps make us a great team.

’I’m excited to see the variety of challenges being a director brings and I can’t wait to continue to grow our company even further.’

Kirsty joined the family business in 2015 with a view to helping with the day-to-day organisation and improving business processes to ensure Talbot & Son is as efficient as possible, so as to continually deliver an excellent service for each of their customers.

Kirsty said: ’We strive to provide our customers with the best service possible and I’m personally looking forward to building strong relationships with our customers and meeting all the challenges the business will bring over the coming years.’

trends and styles

Kirsty also has a passion for interior trends and styles and loves working with customers in the showroom to help them find their perfect window coverings.

She said: ’I’m honoured to take on my new role as director within the company and feel such pride that Simon and I can carry on the business our grandfather established and our dad, mum, uncle and aunt have continued to build over the last 45 years.

’I feel energised about all the changes we are making, including the development of our new website, which will be launched by the end of this year, and the new exciting innovative showroom displays which are being installed in January.’

Andy and Hilary Talbot are excited by the presence of their children alongside them in the business and rather than looking towards retirement, are embracing the changes.

enthusiastic

They said:’When Ian and Gill decided to pursue other interests earlier this year to make way for the ’’new generation’’ of Talbots, we were delighted that Simon and Kirsty took on directorships of the company and are so enthusiastic about their new roles.

’We can see the similarity in the working relationship Andy and Ian established and the one developing between Simon and Kirsty and are reassured that the business will benefit from this.

’There has never really been a distinct line between family time and business time, as any small business owner will tell you - especially when the wider family are involved, so Simon and Kirsty know all about the long hours and hard work involved and are not daunted by it.

’They also know how important customer satisfaction is to us and have heard conversations around the dinner table from a very young age about how we can improve a working practice or learn from an issue to avoid a certain problem in the future.

’Our business ethic is well and truly ingrained in them and we are sure that our customers old and new will feel as confident in the new generation as we are.

’In fact, their enthusiasm is infectious and we are very excited about the future for Talbot & Son.’

Both generations of Talbots are committed to ensuring that Talbot & Son continues to thrive in the coming years and are hugely appreciative of the company’s fantastic team and all of their customers - past, present and future.