A firm manufacturing blinds is working hard to help long-term unemployed people into work.

Interior Goods Direct Ltd, based at Grange Moor, joined forces with recruitment agency A4e for the initiative.

So far this year, the company has taken on eight jobless workers. Interior Goods Direct has continued to expand its operations from its 40,000 sq ft factory by offering permanent employment opportunities year on year to those who are out of work.

This year, the company is celebrating a decade of success – and has attributed its growth in no small part to the hard work, drive and ambition of its employees.

Employee Sally Whitehouse, who was hired through A4e, said: “I started out working on the production line as a quality controller and worked my way up in the organisation to become the production and quality control manager.

“Being made redundant was an extremely stressful and worrying time for me and my family.

“My experience of working with A4e to gain employment was a positive one which has given me a greater appreciation for the work which A4e do.”

With unemployment rates hovering at 9% for Yorkshire and Humber, Interior Goods Direct marketing manager Lee Fisher said he was pleased to be involved in providing investment and employment opportunities.

“We are continually expanding as a business and by working with A4e we hope to attract more hard working individuals to the company,” he said.

“We have also utilised the Youth Contract initiative set up by the Government to reduce youth unemployment by giving 18 to 24-year-olds the chance to attain great quality hands-on experience.

“Our relationship with A4e is a fantastic one; it has enabled us to fill various job vacancies in quality control, production and general housekeeping.”

The company has also just finished its campaign to raise awareness for the RoSPA Blind Cord Safety Campaign. In Child Safety Week, the firm managed to give away 5,000 free child safety devices to homes, schools and businesses throughout the UK.

Interior Goods Direct, which has been trading exclusively online since 2003 originally operated from premises in Mirfield.

It has gone from strength to strength since its formation to become one of the UK’s largest online retailers in its sector.

The firm, which employs about 80 people at its Jubilee Way premises, has nine websites offering more than 10,000 items including blinds, curtains, curtain poles, shutters and cushions direct to the general public via eight product-dedicated websites.

It also makes and dispatches products to customers across the UK and Europe.

Commenting on its 10th anniversary, a spokesman for the firm said: “We aim to be the ultimate one-stop shop for any item that is used to dress a window and are particularly proud of the fact that we are one of the largest local employers, manufacturing a high proportion of our products here in Britain.”