Meet the Barnsley firm on track for record growth with a 'Yorkshire lass' at the heart of its team

Founding member and managing director Lynne Darwin, who has worked in the window supply industry for over 30 years, noted how despite the firm’s success, her own background continues to inform how the company treats both its staff and clients.

“I’ve got my feet firmly on the ground, but I always remember where I came from,” she said.

“My dad was a miner, I’m the youngest of five kids and I remember when we didn't have a baked bean, we had nothing. I always remember that.

“You've got to think about where you come from, and if you look after people, they’ll look after you.”

Based in Wombwell, in Barnsley, New Design Windows currently supplies developers including Persimmon, Gleeson and Taylor Wimpey.

The firm manufactures, supplies and installs windows to newbuild housing, servicing around 100 sites. The company currently has a £19m order book, with £26m of pending sales.

After starting up in 2019, founded by Ms Darwin and two other directors, the firm was forced to close down in early 2020 as the UK went into lockdown due to Covid-19.

Ms Darwin noted that although this set the business back around six months, it was able to pick up quickly when it reopened later in the year.

“In the house building and construction industry, people wanted to get back to building as quickly as possible, so as soon as we could get back on site the work was there,” she said.

The company quickly achieved a string of successes following this, achieving £3.4m turnover last year.

In October, due to cost-of-living issues, the firm began giving a £200 mid-month payment to its staff.

Whilst the business is looking for new premises, Ms Darwin noted that the firm would be staying in the local area, in large part to limit any issues related to changes in travel for employees, including those who use a bicycle to get to work.

“You’ve got to look after people,” said Ms Darwin, “Be nice, that's all you've got to be, and you’ll grow.

“You always have to have difficult conversations with people, thes a way of doing that. If something isn't right you sort it out, and get on with it. That's how I am, what you see is what you get, I’m a Yorkshire lass.”

New Design Windows is now looking to more than double the size of its factory, and hopes to move from its current eight thousand square foot factory to one of around 20 thousand square feet.

Ms Darwin noted how she felt that building relationships with the firm’s customers had been key to its success.

“I always believe that people buy from people,” she said.

“I think if you do a good job on one site, then you’ll get another site, and then another, and you will organically grow,” added Ms Darwin.

“I’ve been in this business for 34 years now, so I've got a lot of contacts with suppliers and with builders, and I think that's why we’ve achieved the growth we have, because of the relationships we’ve had in the past.

"People have just backed us 100 per cent.”