Frequently asked questions

Dubai has for many years been synonymous with skilled artisans from India. Dubai offers a stable and safe environment to operate a joinery workshop with easy export access to anywhere in the world.

Due to the bespoke nature of our products and the many ranges available, we find it better to provide you with an estimate by telephone or email. Please call us on 020 8675 1099 or email enquiries@tnesc.co.uk with the approximate height and width of each opening that you would like pricing for. If you have a preference of the following we can provide a more accurate estimate: Designs (New England/Highline/New York/Manhattan/Soho/Solid) Styles (Full height/Tier on tier/Café) Finishes (for example: painted tulipwood, stained aged tulipwood, natural wood finishes such as oak, beech, mahogany, Majlite™ faux leather and suede). Details of these are found in Choose your Shutters.

Yes, if you are unable to measure for any reason we would be more than happy to visit you, however we will ask for a pre-payment of £100 + vat, which is then deducted from the cost of your order. This is not an additional charge to you but is included in our fitting charge. However, if your property is outside of the M25 the additional charge is £125 +  VAT and this is non-refundable. As your site survey will be carried out by one of our qualified carpenters rather than a sales person, we always try to give an estimate before we visit you, just to give you a good idea of our pricing.

We generally carry out site surveys Monday to Friday, from early morning to mid-afternoon, so we can usually visit you before you leave for work. Please contact us and we will try to be as flexible as possible to accommodate your requirements. You must be present at the measure appointment so that we can discuss all the various aspects of you order with you and ensure every detail is correct.

Yes, we have a showroom in South West London. We are next to Wandsworth Common railway station which is accessible from Clapham Junction and Victoria stations. We are open Monday to Friday from 9am to 4pm, and most Saturdays by appointment. Bank Holiday opening hours may vary so please call us before you set off to avoid disappointment! Our carpenters and local distributors also carry sample bags with examples of blades, hardware and ranges that we can bring to you at the site survey.

Once we have provided you with an initial estimate from your measurements, we will happily arrange a complementary, no-obligation site survey with one of our qualified carpenter/fitters. Please contact our offices to arrange a mutually convenient time. Following the site survey we will send you a quotation which you can sign and return to us to place your order. We will then send you a letter of confirmation, then approximately two weeks later our installation department will contact you to organize a convenient installation date.

Our shutters are measured and manufactured to the millimetre, so in order for us to carry out a site survey we request that all works around the openings be completed before we visit you. This includes all glazing, architraves, plastering, tiling and flooring. As long as this work is finished we can measure for shutters. We will carry out early surveys, but you may incur an additional charge of £75 plus VAT to carry out a second survey.

The lead time from placing your order to installation for standard painted TNESC tulip wood shutters is approximately 6 weeks. Because we own and run our own joinery workshop we can manufacture solid timber shutters very quickly and deliveries arrive into our warehouse from our joinery workshop in Dubai every week. Please note: on very rare occasions there may be a delay for reasons outside of our control, please refer to our terms and conditions for further information.

Majilite™ faux leather and suede shutters may take slightly longer as we do not stock all of the fabric available in our workshop. Most hardwoods and special shaped jobs can also take longer. In these cases we can let you know at the time of order what the expected lead time will be.

There are many things that make us different to all other shutter companies, here are just a few reasons to choose us: The New England Shutter Company is unique in owning our own joinery workshop. As we are not middle men we have complete control over the whole manufacturing process for you. We take sawn planks of wood and machine them into all the finished components that make up the finished shutters.

Every shutter is then caringly hand sanded and painted to give a fine furniture grade finish.  We are truly bespoke; we do use standard sized components, but we can if required vary every component that makes up a shutter panel. This means we can build each panel just for you using the finest solid timbers and components. We are the only manufacturer who can vary the distance between the louvres, giving greater flexibility to give you rail widths to suit your windows.

Our employees have years of joinery experience. This, combined with our director Nick Garratt's expertise in shutters ensures you are provided with the finest product, made to your specifications. Emma, Kelly and Sue in our showroom/ office, can help you with any query regarding our products and service; they will help you through your order from start to finish.

Nick and Catherine Garratt, the directors and founders of The New England Shutter Company are also available to help with larger orders or special projects, or if you would like a site visit to discuss any special or unusual requirements.

Shaped windows are a speciality of The New England Shutter Company; we are the only company in the UK that has its own joinery workshop to actually manufacture all the components. Our carpenters are highly skilled and we can provide a solution to the most unusual of windows.

Yes, we can fit to all types of window frames. If we cannot fit to your frame, your plantation shutters can be fitted to the wall.

No, we do not use anything other than 100% natural solid woods for our timber shutters most of our woods are sourced from sustainable forestry in North America.  Craftwood (MDF) Shutters are not manufactured by TNESC, but supplied from a third party.

Our painted timber shutters are made from North American Tulipwood (Liriodendron Tulipifera), which is a very light, very strong wood. Tulipwood is used in many applications including furniture, joinery, moldings and high quality drumsticks.

We only use wood grown in North Eastern America from New England as this area has the ideal climate to grow the best trees. The climate is very stable, without too much sun or rain. This means the trees grow slowly and very tall and straight. This makes the fibers in the grain tight and close together making it very strong. The same trees growing in southern Russia or Northern China get a lot of sun and rain which makes them grow very quickly, giving the grain open fibers making a softer and less stable wood. 

This is why most woods coming out of China must be either laminated or finger jointed, and why we at The New England Shutter Company will not use it.

We paint our tulip wood shutters with Pre-Catalyzed paints, which we match to any colour. Pre-Catalyzed paints are very fine so we are able to retain the fine natural grains of the wood. This paint is hard to use on finger jointed wood, as it would show the joints, so most manufacturers will use a Nitro-Cellulose paint, which is less refined, thicker and able to cover the joints.

Our hardwoods are hand finished with two coats of natural oils, giving a beautiful luster and smell to the woods.

We request that you are present to let the carpenter in and briefly discuss how you would like the plantation shutters fitted and configured and what hardware you would like if you haven't decided previously. After a quick chat our carpenters are happy to work alone. They are also incredibly tidy and will we often get feedback from clients that the property was left tidier than before they went in!

If we do not have an Agent in your area, we will try and accommodate you.

Supply Only orders for Self Fit purposes are available on orders over £1000 plus VAT. A non-refundable admin charge of £250 plus VAT is payable if you wish to proceed with your order after receiving your estimate. You will take full responsibility for your measurements. Please note that our shutters are not standard and every part or component is customised to each order.

You will deal solely with our Director who will work carefully with you to ensure that your deductions and allowances are correct prior to manufacturing. This process will lengthen our usual lead time of 4 weeks.

If you wish to proceed, we would require accurate measurements along with images of the window(s). You will also be responsible for collecting your order from our Freight Handler at London Heathrow Airport.

Payment in full is required prior to manufacturing. Please note that we take no responsibility for the installation of supply only orders.