Published On: Thu, Jun 24th, 2021

Caribbean Blinds enables latest BBC Apprentice Winner to offer outdoor dining at her Dough Artisan Bakehouse

Award winning manufacturer of external shading systems, Caribbean Blinds, has just completed its sweetest project to date for Lord Sugar’s 2019 business partner Carina Lepore for her bakery business, Dough Artisan Bakehouse. Providing the Beckenham High Street bakery with one of their state-of-the-art fabric Puerto Rico Pergola awnings, which are perfect for large terraces, Caribbean Blinds answered Lepore’s brief to install an all-weather, waterproof cover for the courtyard area at the back of the shop and to remove the piece of tarp that was being used as a temporary cover!

Lepore required flexibility from the product so as to allow the full benefit of the sun but to be able to fully cover and protect the garden from rain at the push of a button.

Stuart Dantzic, Managing Director of Caribbean Blinds, explained, ‘Carina was looking for a stylish, easy to use, permanent and waterproof solution to protect against the weather to enable her to open the bakery’s ‘Secret Garden’ to her customers. She had seen our installations on social media and messaged us for advice and ideas. We soon struck up a rapport, sent her our ideas and got started. It has been a pleasure to work with her and we are thrilled that one of our products is the reason she can keep an outdoor dining area open all year round.’

Carina Lepore added: ‘When we chose the Beckenham location, we always planned to improve the garden area for outdoor dining and hospitality as we knew it would bring added value to the business. The pandemic restrictions definitely gave me that push I needed to get this done and made me far more focused about finding the perfect, all year-round outdoor covering.

“When I saw the quality of the Caribbean Blinds products and started to deal with them as a business, I realised that I didn’t need to look any further because they had everything I needed. The team was really professional and could answer all my questions and convinced me that I should go ahead with the installation and the value it would bring to my business. They weren’t wrong!

“The install was really quick and easy, it only took two days from start to finish. The awning design is stylish, modern and so easy to operate. We’re really happy with it and we now have the most amazing space for our customers to enjoy our coffee, cakes and bakes while adhering to the strict social distancing guidelines.”

Full sun, partial shade or complete shelter, the Puerto Rico Pergola awning gives you complete flexibility and freedom over your outdoor space. The slimline pergola framework features a sliding fabric roof that can be adjusted to any position and when fully extended, the integrated guttering built within the leadrail ensures effective water drainage from the fabric into and out of the post uprights.

The hospitality sector has been doing all it can to welcome customers back with open arms, whilst still adhering to the most recent set of rules and regulations. Open to the elements 24/7, all outdoor social and dining spaces should be fully weather proofed with high-quality structures such as canopies, awnings and pergolas to allow customers to not only feel safe, but comfortable too and for this reason, outdoor terrace coverings can no longer simply be a piece of fabric – they need to incorporate a number of features including ambient lighting, instant heating and side screens to create a pleasant atmosphere and essentially provide the comfort of indoors, outdoors.

Tel: 0344 800 1947
E: info@cbsolarshading.co.uk