We are often asked where the company started from so we thought it would be a good idea to address this question.
The company began as Northern Window Blind Company and opened a showroom in Sunderland, Tyne & Wear on 10 November 1975. It was originally a domestic blind manufacturer and retailer, serving the local areas of Sunderland and South Tyneside.
In 1986 North East Shipbuilders in Sunderland were building the Dietrich Oldendorff, a general cargo vessel for owners Egon Oldendorff. After supplying the vessel with 13 roller blinds with anti-glare film, and identifying similar opportunities to supply other vessels, it was decided to change the name and status of the business to concentrate on the maritime industry with the newly developed product.
The very first export order was received from Malta Drydocks in 1987 for 336 blackout roller blinds. They were for the windows in the crew accommodation on some Timber Carriers that they were building for the Soviet company Sudoimport.
Solar Solve Ltd, trading as Solar Solve Marine, was then registered in January 1988 and the first customer to buy the newly developed SOLASOLV® anti-glare roller screens from the new company was the Sea Hotel in South Shields, which was ironically another local sale
Over time SOLASOLV® anti-glare roller screens became extremely popular within the marine industry and the company has never looked back since!
Paul Hopkins, Sales & Marketing Executive
