Distributors Waterline and Allied Kingswood are to merge, but no firm date has been set for the move according to Waterline MD Mike Lawrence (pictured).

Waterline and Allied Kingswood are both major suppliers of Crown kitchens. Crown owner bought 20% of Waterline in 2009 and less than a year later bought 100% of Allied, effectively competing with himself.

Now Lawrence has confirmed that the two companies will merge, but says there are no firm plans for a timetable.

"The plan is that over the next couple of years or so, the two companies will come together," he said. "Gradually we're moving towards the same IT framework ad we're already collaborating on purchasing and credit control. We're already assembling the installation ready Crown kitchens for Allied too.

"[The merger] will happen when it's right for the customer. We're not driven to do it for financial reasons so we don't need to force it. I think we'll start sharing logistics in different parts of the country, and it will start to sew it all together, but it will happen when the time is right."

In an interview appearing in the March issue of kbbreview, Lawrence says Waterline went through a turbulent time during the market downturn following an AIM stock market flotation and subsequent delisting two years later - a saga he now describes as 'a debacle' - and a severe fall in sales.

"To put it in real terms, we lost £20 million of turnover," he said. "I always though we'd be safe in a recession as we deal with a lot of customers - our biggest does 1% of our business - and I though that would safeguard us, but what a load of rubbish. When the market went bad, 20% of customers just went and so did £20m."

Lawrence said that now, with the help of Michael Head, Waterline is back in profit and running healthily again.

"We turned it around and the satisfaction I've got in the last two years has probably been greater than the last 24 years. I've loved every minute of it,' he said.