How did you come to enter the industry? What was your role and when was that?

I actually started working with a local furniture retailer in 1969! In those days, kitchens were sold by furniture shops or traditional hardware stores and were fairly basic by today’s standards. By the early 80’s that local furniture retailer had five outlets, and I was put in charge of the kitchen division. I then founded my own first high Street premises in 1984 in Ashford, Middlesex. I completed the shop fit in six weeks and to my huge relief business took off!

Looking back, how do you think kitchen design itself has changed?

It is constantly progressing, the choice is almost endless now and has moved from being a utility product to a ‘home fashion statement’. I think these changes have favoured the specialist over the multiples as a real specialist will have the knowledge, enthusiasm and expertise required to manage these complex projects.

On a related note, is the customer experience different now? Are they still shopping in the same way, and have their expectations changed?

Customers are now spending a considerable sum on their kitchen investment and quite rightly, their expectations of a perfect showroom, expert staff and service and totally professional installation, are very high. Nearly all enquiries now come from personal recommendations or online, so the days of free newspapers and yellow pages are long gone!

What are some of the best ways that the industry has changed and developed?

The industry has become much more professional. In the 1980’s there were many ‘direct sales’ outfits with very poor standards which gave the industry a bad name. There is much less room now for the dishonest salespeople offering false discounts and unqualified tradespeople to operate.