The Kitchen Group acquires its seventh showroom

The owner of The Kitchen Group says he has now achieved his ambition of becoming the “biggest independent German kitchen retailer” in the UK with the acquisition of an existing showroom in Milton Keynes.

Kitchen Group managing director Liam Hopper (pictured) has acquired the trading assets and intellectual property of the Kitchen Matters showroom in Milton Keynes, as the former owners were looking to exit the business.

Through its network of Kitchen Design Centre showrooms, The Kitchen Group specialises in Leicht Kitchens and the Kitchen Matters store in Milton Keynes, now its seventh, was already a Leicht showroom. The existing showroom manager will remain with the business.

Speaking exclusively to kbbreview, Hopper said: “My ambition was to build the largest independent German kitchen company on the country. I really want to shout about what I have done. It is unique. I was always thirsty to be the biggest and I think I have achieved that.”

Speaking about KBB retailing in the UK, which differs from the chain-dominated model in Europe, Hopper commented: “The strongest will survive, but the ones that will really succeed and go big are the ones that take the risk. And for me, I am not interested in doing a couple of hundred grand here and there, maybe a million, it’s not enough for me. I have to go bigger, bigger, bigger.

“I have to keep going and if I have a model that is working, why stop? At the moment, our sales are good and as long as you can understand numbers, balance sheets and profit and loss, and I have a very good business understanding, then the model is quite easy to roll out.”

Hopper’s strategy has been to take over existing kitchen retailers that have either gone bust or where the existing owners are looking to exit the business.

The new Milton Keynes showroom joins The Kitchen Group’s other six stores in Sevenoaks, Tunbridge Wells, Battersea, Finchley Road, Kendal and Nottingham.

Hopper commented: “In the past two years, we opened four showrooms. I can’t think of many retailers who have done that.”

But he told kbbreview that he is not finished yet and has plans to open a further two showrooms.

He said: “We are now in the process of consolidating Milton Keynes over the next few months and we are involved in two or three other acquisitions and they are ready to go as soon as I press the button. I just need to get through the next three months. Last month we achieved half-a-million pounds and this month we are close to three-quarters of a million. I need two or three months of mega-money and then I can go back to the banks and say new opportunities have come up and do they fancy backing it.”

At the moment, Hopper says he is anticipating an annual turnover figure of around £5.9 million

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