We’re already halfway through 2025 and the market is seemingly as unpredictable, unsteady and unsettled as ever. Anywhere the kbb industry gathers, everyone wants to know how everyone else is doing, desperately trying to get a benchmark for their own performance.

The way business owners interpret the deliberately vague question ‘how’s business?’ is almost as telling as the specifics of the reply. For some, it’s clearly a direct question about them and the intricacies of their strategies, plans and tactics.

For others, it’s a question about the wider economic landscape, consumer confidence, government policies and international diplomacy.

Either way, as we shall see from the results of our exclusive survey, there are very few definitive answers and very few consistent themes.

In fact, if one overall frustrating conclusion can be drawn from these survey results it’s that the market is still as uncertain and inconclusive as your own views probably are – put simply, as many people think the market is up as think it is about the same as think it is down.

We asked 100 independent kitchen and/or bathroom retailers about the health of their business and their outlook for the future, starting with project order values.

For those who sell kitchens, about a quarter (24%) said their average order was up to £20,000, another quarter (25%) had it between £20,000 and £30,000. A further 17% put it at between £30,000 and £40,000, and one in five (21%) said their average order value was over £40,000.

Over in bathrooms, 37% said their average order was less than £10,000, 27% said it was between £10,000 and £20,000 and 6% put it over £20,000.

The pertinent question, of course, is whether that average order value has changed in the last 12 months – and while 19% said it had stayed the same, exactly half said it had gone up slightly and, in fact, a further 18% said it had gone significantly up.

While this should be good news, it’s very clear that this phenomenon isn’t down to an improving market and rising client budgets. The explanation for the majority of retailers is much simpler – supplier prices have gone up.

“Obviously there have been very significant price increases over the last five years that have pushed order values up by as much as 30%,” said one. “Clients have less to spend but prices have gone up,” said another.

“We have to charge more as the price of goods have all gone up as well as our overheads,” another told us.

That isn’t the only reason of course, there are retailers who certainly attribute an increased order value to changes in their own strategies.

“We have focused on raising our average order value by tapping into the higher part of the market,” one retailer told us. 

“We have worked hard on showroom development, targeting and qualifying customers as well as sales and product training with the aim of heading towards this goal,” another said.

But there are also some that see the rise in order value as indicative of a consumer shift: “We find customers in 2025 are not as hesitant as last year on the bigger ticket items such as quartz surfaces or Quooker taps etc. There definitely seems more confidence in general this year,” one told us.

Order book

While order values may be broadly going up, how far ahead does that order book stretch? Of our 100 retailers, 34 said their order book was one or two months ahead and 41 said it was three or four months. For the rest it was clearly more but only 10 said it was over six months.

But, again, the relevant question is whether that has changed in the last year and while 40% say their order book is about the same, 28% say it is down or significantly down.

And yet, for 22% it’s better or much better and a further 9% say it’s significantly up. 

One retailer summed it up: “Consumer confidence is playing a part, thanks to Trump’s tariffs and the slowdown in the property market. Also we are still seeing home owners adjusting to higher mortgages, and a general increase in the cost of living affecting everyone.”

Many others also see the wider economy as the underpinning reason for a drop in business.

“This year is flatlining just like 2024,” one said. “Last year it was the domestic political situation and this year it’s the global one – AKA Trump! We really like to have a three month order book but that’s rarely been seen in the past 18 months.”

But, as with so much of this snapshot, there are retailers whose experience is the polar opposite. “I think there is more confidence with potential customers,” one told us. “Interest rates have remained steady for some time now and it seems to be breeding a confidence that was lacking last year.”

This other retailer agreed: “Better consumer confidence is part of it. This year people are getting on with their decisions to renovate or move home rather than waiting for external events that might influence their situation. Last year, many clients who contacted me at the beginning of the year got spooked by the prospect of an election which was clearly going to bring a real change and then a budget they felt nervous about.”

Footfall

If that’s the picture for actual orders, is that reflected in the initial footfall and enquiries? Are clients still coming through the door or website?

Again, the frustrating answer is that it depends who you ask. Footfall and enquiries have gone up for 28% and significantly up for 11% but while a third (32%) say it’s the same as usual, 28% say it’s gone down or significantly down.

Broadly speaking, this means it’s about the same or better for nearly three-quarters of retailers – which can only be a good result – but that still leaves a lot of retailers concerned that the wider economy is damaging their business.

However, for those who have seen increased footfall, most attribute it to their own activity: “Our recent rise in footfall and enquiry numbers is driven by a focused strategy across data analysis, performance marketing, and brand positioning,” one retailer, who has several showrooms, said. “Enhanced analytics have allowed us to better understand user behaviour, segment audiences more effectively, and respond quickly to trends.

“At the same time, clearer brand messaging, stronger digital visibility, and consistent presentation across all touchpoints have reinforced our position resulting in higher engagement and stronger lead quality.”

Confidence

So given the inconsistency in orders and footfall, what does all this mean for the overall business confidence of our 100 independent kitchen and bathroom retailers? Do these practical numbers correlate with their own faith in their business and ability to make it successful?

Reassuringly, nearly a quarter (24%) say they’re more confident than ever about the health of their business and another quarter (23%) say it’s a bit better than usual. A third say it’s about the same but one in five (19%) say they are worried or extremely worried about the future of their business – and while that is a minority, it is still concerning. 

However, the majority also have a very positive outlook for the rest of 2025 – nearly half (45%) say they expect the market to get better before the end of the year and two-fifths (39%) say they expect to finish 2025 about the same as usual

However, 15% still say they think the market will get worse in 2025.

While it’s clear that, halfway through the year, there are few definitive answers to any questions about the state of the market there are some qualitative themes and commonalities that link many of them.

But one retailer summed up the most important message perfectly: “Consumer confidence is everything,” they said. “The world is facing uncertain times at the moment and some stability over a prolonged period of time would be very welcome indeed…”

Other indicators…

• Total construction output is estimated to have shown no growth (0.0%) in the first quarter of 2025  compared with the last quarter of 2024. Source: Office for National Statistics

• Overall retail sales volumes rose by 0.4% during March 2025, following a 0.7% rise in February. Overall retail sales rose by 2.6% over the first quarter of the year. Source: Office for National Statistics

• Three-in-five renovation professionals (57%) said they expected their revenue to rise in 2025. In fact, ‘design and build’ firms, such as KBB studios, had the most positive outlook for the year out of all the groups polled. Only 14% of them thought that 2025 would be “poor or very poor”, compared to 22% of interior designers and 24% of architects. Source: Houzz 2025 UK State of the Industry report.

• In the US, the kitchen and bathroom sector is expected to grow its revenue in 2025 for the first time since 2022, with a forecasted increase of 0.8%. An improvement over 2024 and 2023’s declines of 1.6% and 2.6%, respectively.Source: NKBA

• There has been a 22% increase in the number of sales agreed upon and a 13% increase in the number of new buyers contacting estate agents about homes for sale in 2025. Source: Rightmove

• Around 11% of consumers are planning a new bathroom and the same number are planning a new kitchen over the next 12 months. These are actually drops from the last time the survey was done in 2023 when it was 15% for bathrooms and 12% for kitchens. Source: Homes Unhooked 2025-2026.