Heavy work, good benefits for staff on permanent contract but nothing for temps, disheartening when temp contracts get extended but with no promise of permanent just maybes so no security or benefits

Pros

Decent breaks

Cons

Heavy work

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Not a good place to work

Advisot (Former Employee) - Inverness - 13 June 2022

Pay not goodNo help Just really really bad They don't support you and you are left by yourself to work stuff out They don't help you out They want all the money you get selling blinds you get a very small amount.

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Insights into Hillarys Blinds

Based on 17 survey responses

Areas for improvement

Support from manager
Inclusive work environment
General feeling of work happiness

Stressful, average salary for very long hours, forced to work weekends to complete office tasks, disgruntled workforce

Senior Management (Former Employee) - South of England - 27 March 2022

Highly pressurised management position, constantly undermined Average industry salary for working in excess of 70-80 hours incl weekends on pcLack of support by senior management, opinions not valued & workload impossible Fellow management too scared to say how they really feelHorrible 'clique' culture exists, if you're doing well they'll talk to you if your face fits

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Don't work for them

Specialist installer (Former Employee) - South East - 28 October 2021

It's not a job. You pay them £2000 to work for them. They give poor training. Drive you mad. Only pay 8%. When they have a sale you have to swallow the discount. This is not a job. It is a franchise. No employment benefits. 60 hours a week, and you might make an ok living. They fine you for mistakes. Even if the sales person has written down a wrong colour. You will pay.I have been in this business for 30 years. They are awful stay away

Pros

None

Cons

Everything

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Very stressful, underpaid basic salary with little or no chance of achieving bonus targets. Poor support from senior management

Field Installation Manager (Former Employee) - Portsmouth, but Nottingham is main hub - 20 September 2021

Very target driven, basic salary too low for the amount of responsibility. Quarterly bonuses unachievable, 50% at best. Lack of support/ongoing training. Very time consuming work hours, not covered by salary. Puts a massive strain on your home life. Field operatives (sales or 'design consultants') regularly mis-sale at inflated prices becaus they are commission based, earning 10% of the overall cost of each order. Installers/surveyors also earn 10% but have to correct what has been mis-sold. Customers are therefore not all treated the same as they are charged diffeing amounts depending in skill, ability of sales advisor to extract as much as they can. Very clique work culture.

Pros

Company car, although BIK tax can cost around £200 a month

Cons

Long hours, unsympathetic management, unachievable bonus scheme, regulsr unsociable remote working with little or no support

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I wouldnt recommend.

Production Operative (Former Employee) - Washington - 8 May 2021

I worked in the metal venetian dep't at Hillarys. The hours were fine but they were long days!The job itself is boring once you know what you're doing and they expect a lot of work out of you for the money you get! Also if they find you hate a certain task they will take you for a conplete mug and put you on that task at any given time. It got to the point where I kicked off with them.There is a lot of favouritism and a lot of family and friends there which doesn't help on the favouritism part. There is no room for progression unless you're a friend, family or favourite. There is overtime almost all the time but there is no work life balance at all. Basically Blinds are life. In the end I never ever did overtime because I couldn't bare to be there any longer than I had to be there.On the whole leaving there is probably one of the best things I've ever done.

Cons

Long days, Management are a joke, pay, repetitive, boring, no progression.

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Not what was promised

Hoist Operator (Former Employee) - Washington, Tyne and Wear - 30 September 2020

When you start working here they will promise you anything, but sharply take it away.Cell leaders don't lead by example. No progression. Favoritism

Pros

You might get some free fruit on a friday

Cons

Workers get punished, slackers get praised

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If your looking to develop, you are in the wrong place

Office staff (Current Employee) - Nottingham - 13 August 2020

Whilst the benefits and flexibility is good, the management is poor and the development of even day to day activity. You could have great ideas and look at implementing change but they will not be ready for you. The atmosphere is too relaxed

Pros

free fruit and month awareness for different causes

Cons

lacking structure

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Very long hours

Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - Livingston - 10 July 2020

Sitting at the same stall all day. It’s not a hard job just very very long hours and customers can be so harsh and judgmental. I personally didn’t have enough hours but I was on a contract that fit at the time.

Pros

Good pay

Cons

Long Days

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Hillarys no

Production Operative (Current Employee) - Washington - 16 September 2019

Don't work here find another place to work its not worth, it you stand all day, you can not talk. While the pay is fairly OK, the only good thing is that you work no weekends

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Hillary's blinds seem a good company at first , but it isn't what it looks the company wants you to to work nights 6/9 and weekend .

Sales Advisor (Former Employee) - Wolverhampton, West Midlands - 4 September 2019

It's hard to earn a good wage unless you are prepared to work unsociable hours. It all depends on the quality of appointment you get. You could have appointment twenty miles apart and with ten /fifteen appointment a day ,there's a lot of driving. With no petrol allowance. The good part is that you work for yourself.

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Good workforce team

Warehouse Operative (Former Employee) - Nottingham, Nottinghamshire - 8 February 2019

Very approachable and hard working team. Team leader always let us know what we're doing in advance and helped with manual labour work. Clean canteen with good breakfast and lunch option (hot and cold food) which is a good chill out space on break.

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Extremelly supportive and good relaxed work enviorment

Technical Support Engineer (Current Employee) - Nottingham - 5 November 2018

Hillarys is a wonderful place to work especailly at a young age. I personally found i could relly express myslef and grow up while working in the relaxed enviroment. The people that you work with are one of the best parts of the job and make it enjoyable additoanlly, the management genuinly care for you and want you to develop as both a person and techincally. One of the hardest parts for me personally is that the enviroment is too relaxed, i found it personally difficult to stay concentrated without music. Additioanlly a new addition to the team that I didn't and still dont work well with due to his "up brining" making his dialect somewhat limited. but typucally the people are outstanding. A day at work is very relaxed but with certain times of pressure and managing your work load. If you put work in you get the reward and praise for it. This business is amazing to move aroun ddiffrent roles and love to develop their employees they currently have and make you feel truly valued.

Pros

Relaxed, 50 mins overall break, the people, the management

Cons

sudden heavy pressure, multi tasking constantly

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Easy place to work

Production Operative (Current Employee) - Nottingham, Nottinghamshire - 22 November 2017

Hillary’s isn’t a bad company to work for. But it doesn’t offer much variety in terms of a career path, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing depending on how ambitious you are.

Pros

Easy work

Cons

Minimum wage, mind numbing work

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Design Consultant Misery

Design Consultant (Former Employee) - Derbyshire - 20 October 2017

Selling shutters. You have to pay thousands of pounds to get the job. You have to pay for everything. Phone and contract, tablet and contract, uniform, initial samples, hotels, car, fuel and so on. My performance was good but my earnings low once you take the car and everything else into account. Hard sell, asked to explain yourself if you had a bad week. I worked Very long hours. I was very unhappy working here in a self employed role.You must do Evening calls that can be in rough areas.Ask for proof of other salespersons earnings before giving them all your money just to get a job, I wish I did.

Pros

None

Cons

You pay for everything from your uniform to hotel stays. Heavy samples. Long hours, own car, phone etc. Hard to sell

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Terrible place

Production Operative (Former Employee) - Washington, Tyne and Wear - 30 August 2017

Only good thing about working for hillarys is the shift, if your related to management or "in" with management you can do more or less what ever you like if not then your expected you work like a robot for 6p more than minimum wage with no chance of any kind of promotion. The work its self isn't really hard but when you see other people standing around noting nothing and your working to target its very annoying. Management well if that's what you want to call them havnt really got a clue what they are doing. Your person business is disgusted on the factory floor for everyone to hear. Breaks are good but that's about it.

Pros

Shifts, Breaks, works easy

Cons

Just about everything.

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Good

Assistant (Former Employee) - Canterbury, Kent - 18 August 2017

This is a good job with good pay and flexible. I manage hillarys blinds paperwork and phone calls as an assistant so can work my own hours as long as I get the required work done

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Good in the early years

Salesman/Fitter (Former Employee) - Chesterfield - 27 June 2017

Okay job to start with, though saying that my immediate work colleagues were great. Long hours , lots of paper work , working virtually 7 days a week.

Cons

Long hours

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hard work and self development q

Specialist Installer (Former Employee) - Portsmouth - 22 March 2017

great place to work as you build your own working schedule as you are self employed you, money possibilities are endless, all depends on how hard you want to work and for how long. Training is fantastic and equipment provided for you.

Pros

self control of hours and money.

Cons

big start up cost

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Good employer

Hillarys Associate (Former Employee) - Colwick - 16 February 2017

Excellent training on the job plus flexible working environment in dynamic sales driven atmosphere. Very good management and overall highly recommended employer.

Pros

Flexibility and salary

Cons

None

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Not fun at all to be treated as a number

Warehouse Operative (Former Employee) - Nottingham - 26 January 2017

Work as a machine, targets set by the company do not allow you to breathe, minimum wage paid, two breaks only, as a smoker hard to maintain starting at 8am and having first break at 10:30 for and then lunch at 1:30 after 3 hours, only 30 mins, not enough time to eat, relax. Feel sorry for people that worked there for a long time, slavery job, dont believe go and try. Overtime not available until you get signed off, contracts temporary and extended, avoid