I made my first kitchen 50 years ago, and I am still making them from my workshop in Sussex now, although my entry into the world of kitchens was unusual. 

After university, I went straight into cabinet making, and within two years, I was full-on kitchen-making and installing. By the age of 23, I had a dozen full-time joiners and fitters, and by the time I was 25 I was properly bankrupt. I spent the next year repairing every kitchen my liquidated company had left unfinished. 

It was a good learning curve, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it. Today I run a small, tidy ship, and I sleep soundly. Arguably, that’s primarily the result of proper project management.

Let’s be real from the beginning: although I still love designing kitchens, I am here primarily to make money. I’m winding down my sales as a retailer and I will be concentrating on manufacturing bespoke cabinets and dovetailed oak drawers. 

When I start making cabinets for trade and direct to the retail client, my manufacturing margins are going to collapse. That’s because I think that the structure of kitchen designing, sales and project management is unbalanced and doesn’t necessarily reflect the reality of the services we provide.

For example, presently when I retail kitchen cabinets for £15,000, my raw gross material costs are 17% – or about £3,000. My profit is £12,000 before labour. My net after these expenses is in excess of 60%. If it sounds too good to be true , it is. That’s because these impressive margins dissolve away as I manage my projects. 

If I sell direct – at a 50% discount to my standard retail – my profit margins would be reduced from 82% to less than 50%, and my net margins would be cut by over two-thirds! My labour costs would have doubled in proportion to my turnover.

A costly decision

I believe that kitchen project management is not properly costed out, and really, it should be charged for separately. I would bet my bottom dollar that most kitchen showrooms give clients an overall “project” figure. This may be broken down into chunks, of course, but essentially the client will be looking at the totality of the project for a fixed sum. 

Obviously, you will make the vast majority of your profit from the sales of the kitchen cabinetry. Let’s face it, I think there are virtually no decent margins in retailing appliances. You might also do okay on worktops, but what about the rest of it?

I mean organising the builders, plumbers, sparks, plastering, flooring and the decorating. The trimming and the architraves, the door thresholds and even working out how to house that damn boiler! 

What I would like to do is sell my cabinets first and then charge for all the project management. Although what would I charge myself out at? I reckon it would need to be about £150 an hour! 

What do you charge for your kitchen project management? I imagine, like most kitchen retailers you don’t charge separately for it. Your project management cost is likely built into what you are charging for the kitchen cabinets and worktops. I believe it is normal practice. But is it the right way to do it? 

Some kitchen projects need minimal oversight, whereas some need constant visits. Do you charge for this too? I doubt it. I imagine some of your more savvy clients understand your business model. In the end they will look at the overall costs. But should we be separating our costs? Should we be charging for design visits and plans and project management separately from the product?

I will leave you with a weird thought: I am now selling bespoke cabinets direct to the public, and I’m charging about half the price I charge retail. It is entirely possible that one of my retail clients who has been quoted £15,000 for their cabinets may come across my direct kitchen website where they will see the identical cabinets for half the price. 

What would you think if you were that client? Would you feel comfortable explaining that half the cost of the cabinets is actually to organise the project?