When Stuart Dantzic spoke at the Pro Landscaper Business Awards last year, he emphasised the need for collaboration in the industry – something that Caribbean Blinds has truly embodied in recent months.

The Sudbury-based business, which supplies luxury external shading solutions, has always maintained strong relationships with the landscaping industry, but it’s now looking to build “partnerships” with those in it, says its managing director.

Up until last year, landscapers buying pergolas, awnings or external shades from Caribbean Blinds could do so on a supply-only basis and so would always need to carry out the initial survey and install. Now, though, the company is utilising its three project installation teams – which typically carry out large-scale commercial installations on rooftop terraces for hotels and restaurants, for instance – to carry out installations for trade as well. It’s an area of the business he’s looking to grow too, with plans for this service to extend nationwide, stretching it to cover Wales, Cornwall and north of Leeds.

“The benefit for landscapers is, rather than subcontractors, our installers are salaried; they’re not paid by the project. So, they’ll be there as long as they need to do the job properly. But we also enhance the guarantee for our dealer, upgrading it from a traditional 10-year trade guarantee to one that’s parts and labour inclusive, so we’ll resolve any issues after the installation, should there be any. It’s ultimately a better experience for the end customer and for our brand.”

Caribbean Blinds’ project installation team

There is a premium for the installation, so for landscapers looking to make the most margin by installing the product themselves, Caribbean Blinds still offers its traditional trade supply-only route. It provides a free one-day training programme for its pergolas, during which a landscaper will build two of the products from scratch, and it recommends booking this as close to the installation as possible.

But Dantzic says landscapers are increasingly seeing its pergolas as a specialist product and so would rather hand over the installation to a specialist. There’s a hybrid option as well, where a landscaper can carry out the survey and Caribbean Blinds installs the pergola, or vice versa. It’s about offering flexibility and working with the trade.

“We no longer see ourselves as a trade supplier; instead, we like to partner with companies instead so that we can grow together and add value. We want to understand what their pinch points are and to help them identify new opportunities in the marketplace.”

This includes introducing landscapers to the other products in its range. “If they’re designing a garden right up to the house and the client doesn’t have the budget for a pergola, then perhaps an awning is an option as it has a lower price point.

“Ultimately, if we can add value to their scheme or help them to win more work, then it increases their bottom line and means that we’re selling more products, so it’s a win-win.”

The Dream Gardens at Caribbean Blinds’ headquarters in Sudbury

More and more landscaping companies seem to be drawn to the idea of setting up physical showrooms to sell products only alongside the full landscape design and build offering, and that’s good for the industry, reckons Dantzic. “It means they’re committed to the industry long term, and it will help them grow quicker whilst remaining profitable. There’s always an associated cost with taking your business to the next level and your profitability tends to drop, but if you can offer landscaping and sell products then that helps to close that gap.”

For those companies who want to get involved in selling products within their scheme, Caribbean Blinds provides free social media assets to make posting on their platforms easier, and it can provide CAD drawings so that the client can better visualise the product in their garden. “We’re trying to take away barriers.”

It sells sample kits to help showcase the quality of the product to clients, of which the pergolas one is £150. But to encourage cross-selling, it offers all three of its sample kits – for pergolas, awnings, and external blinds – at a special price and automatically puts those purchasing these into its gold-tier discount scheme rather than the landscaper having to work their way up towards this level.

Consilium Hortus is one company to take advantage of this, but the Essex-based design and build company also brings clients to view the show gardens which opened last year at Caribbean Blinds’ headquarters. “The average order value will go up as a result of the client seeing the products in person,” says Dantzic.

There’s more certainty in the market now, so Caribbean Blinds is starting to see the market go back to being buoyant after the post-pandemic dip – making it the ideal time to be offering a range of outdoor living options. As well as partnering with landscapers, the company is also working with other suppliers such as Bridgman furniture to offer their clients exclusive discounts through recommendation as well as an agreed kickback. “Collaboration is key – but there has to be an incentive as well.”

It’s not all about profit, though. Whilst being the headline partner of the Pro Landscaper Business Awards for another year offers Caribbean Blinds an indirect way of promoting its products, it’s also the supplier’s way of giving back to the landscaping industry which Dantzic says is an important market for the brand.

“We talk about collaborating, but it’s not a one-way street. So, this is us working with our partners to give back to the industry that helps to make us profitable; it’s us feeding some of those profits back in. The Business Awards is an ideal opportunity to do that; it gets people together for a whole day to celebrate the best of the best, and we see the value of entering awards as a business.”

It all ultimately showcases the benefits that working together can bring, so that both Caribbean Blinds and its partners can prosper.