There was a programme on BBC1 ‘The One Show’ where they carried out several interviews in COI Hercules House where Niche Operable Systems provided a range of Sliding Partitions. Full details are on our Case Study page.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00lsqbd/The_One_Show_21_07_2009/
The clip can be seen at 18:40 minutes into the show.
Kathryn Fudge employee of Niche Operable Systems Ltd left the company last August to follow her dream of playing Handball at the 2012 Olympics in London.
Kathryn Fudge is 19 years old and has been playing handball for Great Britain at left-back since August 2008. She was selected to go through to the British World Class Handball programme after being very successful from the sporting giants campaign. Although Kathryn hasn’t been playing handball for long she gained her first cap in November 2008. 
She currently lives and trains in Norway and plays for a Team called Asker. Funding for the sport has been cut in this country and Fudge, together with three of her colleagues, has moved to the Scandinavian country where handball is more widely played.
“It was hard leaving behind my mates as an 18-year-old but I had to do it,” said Fudge. “All my friends were going to University and I was moving to another country. I didn’t know anybody at first, but there are four of us out here now and we are all chasing the same goal. I have settled in a bit and I have taken up a couple of cleaning jobs to fund myself.”
It will be the first time that Great Britain enters a handball team at the Olympics, with a guaranteed place in every competition handed to the host nation.
Fudge has only been playing the sport for one year after giving up football and basketball.
“Handball is a more physical sport because it’s full contact,” said Fudge. “It is very popular in Europe, particularly Scandinavia. It’s gone well for me so far and I am on the world class training scheme. We are hoping just to be competitive at the Olympics and a place in the top eight would be excellent considering it is our debut.”
Fudgey has travelled all over Europe training and playing for Great Britain and is currently on her way to Austria to play their National Team on Wednesday 14th October in the Group stages of the European Championships 2010. She then returns to London to Play France at home at Crystal Palace on Saturday 17th October 2009.
To find out more about the team and the sport of handball please click on the link below.
A list of a select few past projects Niche Operable Systems has proudly completed is available on our Case Studies Page.
Niche Operable Systems
This unique company designs and installs custom wall systems for a variety of needs and uses throughout the Lancashire, Manchester, and Yorkshire areas and they also include the rest of the United Kingdom and overseas as their field of operation.
As producers of folding, sliding partitions and moveable acoustic walls they cover a diverse range of places that can utilise their systems within the public and commercial sector and also in a variety of domestic situations.
Niche has installed their custom wall systems in schools, hotels, offices, golf clubs, hospitals, blue chip companies and have provided specialty items for architects, designers, and builders, always with the total care for each project from initial consultation, design, preparation, installation, demonstration, maintenance and repair.
Their application of their extensive product range shows their endeavour to provide unique and flexible solutions for each client and proposal. Market leading acoustic and fire ratings, framed glass movable systems and frameless glass sliding partitions put Niche at the forefront of the industry.
Working with leading architects Cassidy and Ashton on the West Lancashire Investment Centre, Niche provided the facility with a flexible and ease of use partition, that not only provided minimal structural load bearing implications and good acoustic control but also an aesthetically pleasing appearance to match the conference furniture. Niche are regularly asked to provide new solutions with bespoke detailing.
In the case of the Telford Golf and Country Q3 Hotels, the client required a bespoke, high specification and up market movable wall, with flexibility of space and excellent acoustic properties and a panel finish that would blend with the interior décor while also being a unique feature. A tall order.
Since this situation did not lend itself to a top hung system, and working with the contractor and structural engineers, Niche Operable Systems, using their extensive experience produced a easily navigable, individual panel system. A central column was created to form a hub from which four individual movable panels could meet, thus creating one, two, three or four rooms at any one time. These panels were also designed to stack away remotely from the main stack line and be hidden when not in use. The panels, four metres high were finished with colour laminate to match the room interior.
The requirements of the Bridge Club – Ansdell Institute NR Lytham were again a unique proposal. The client wanted an “open feel” in a basement area to make the most of borrowed light. Selecting a top hung movable wall (no floor track) with integral blind units for privacy and light passage, a hinged door for passage through walls and a finish that blended with the interior décor provided the privacy and flexibility the client requested.
This last study showcases Niche’s work overseas. Niche has been servicing the UK for over a decade and has been undertaking varied and challenging work projects overseas. In Lile, France the schemes included a fast refurbishment for Decathlon (Reebok) for a quick and easy acoustic room
subdivision with panel surface areas that allowed merchandising to be mounted for demonstration purposes. Niche achieved this by applying sheet-steel to the panel finish.
Other overseas work included a large project for Arab Bank of Doha, Quatar and a variety of other supply and installation and export only/ supply only schemes.
For full information including case studies, technical information and full product listing go to our website: www.folding-partitions.co.uk