Substance and Style
Why wait for your picture-perfect kitchen? Matthew Parkinson visited Howdens Joinery to find out how its trade-focused service makes your dream more attainable than ever. Photography: Paul Currie
It’s easy to get carried away when it comes to DIY. Just because you’ve turned a pile of flat-packed wooden panels into a crooked bookcase doesn’t mean you’re ready to give the kitchen a makeover. You can buy the slickest designs and the most expensive materials, but if you don’t know how it goes together, your kitchen is never going to look as good as it did in the brochure.
That’s why I’m visiting the Garstang branch of Howdens Joinery. Howdens do things differently. Instead of providing kitchens to the public like any other chain, Howdens deal exclusively with trade professionals. So, does this mean I’ll be turned away if I’m not a member of the trade? Not at all, insists depot manager Tim Smart: “If a customer comes in for a chat, we’ll start by showing them what we’ve got. We can then offer them a number of trusted tradespeople who hold accounts with us if they don’t have one already.”
Howdens’ roster includes more than 400 trade professionals of numerous specialties to ensure a quality standard of work at every stage of your kitchen’s installation. In doing so, Howdens can use its contacts to ensure any gas and electrical work required meets legal requirements to ensure any work doesn’t invalidate your home insurance or lease contract.
When it comes to putting the kitchen together however, why shouldn’t I just jump the gun and have a go myself, surely that must be quicker? Depot manager Tim Smart is quick to correct me.
“Unlike commercial suppliers, we have all the parts right here ready to go, so you’re not waiting weeks to start your installation,” he says. “We can usually turn around a kitchen in a matter of days.”
Getting your high-quality kitchen sooner than expected is a fantastic prospect, but what about cost? I ask Tim about the premium I must be paying to have my kitchen installed in this way, and he directs my attention to a sign hanging above the entrance. “We will be competitive on price on like for like products,” Tim explains. “We’re that confident.”
What comes next is the fun part – designing your dream kitchen. From its Garstang branch, this is handled by Chloe Mains, who not only creates the digital designs, but goes to visit customers and takes the measurements herself to ensure her designs are accurate to the last millimetre.
“Once we’ve got the measurements you can come in, sit down, grab a cup of coffee and we can talk you through the design in a relaxed environment,” explains Chloe. “Using computer aided design, we can design your kitchen in around an hour. We can even work on designs there and then with the customer.”
It’s a good job, since the range allows for endless customisation options. Clients can opt for granite or laminate workshops, glossy or matte flush cabinets or fitted with handles of multiple shapes and materials. Since Howdens also stock a range of appliances, including its keenly priced Lamona range, it’s got you covered there too.
It’s reassuring to know, therefore, that whatever you’ve asked for, Howdens can deliver. Literally.
“We manage our own deliveries too,” explains Tim. “We decide where and when we can deliver – not someone else.”
The Howdens experience doesn’t just take the stress out of assembling your kitchen, but all the logistics behind it, as Chloe explains: “With us, you’ve got one point of contact. From the parts in the warehouse, to the design, and even the plumbing and appliances.”
Howdens Joinery has created an unparalleled support structure, matching big-business people power with a local friendliness that puts the customer at the top of the list of priorities. At every stage of your kitchen’s installation, Howdens has it covered. Because Howdens Joinery controls its stock, the supply, the design and the installation, the only thing you’ll have to do with its ever-expanding range of options is choose, but knowing Howdens, it will be happy to help you with that too.
Howdens Joinery Garstang
Unit 1 Manor Park, Green Lane West
Garstang, Preston PR3 1NJ
01995 282000
www.howdens.com
