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Hettich has always been a company that values experience, relationships and  a long-term view of the market.

With around 30 employees, Hettich UK has been a subsidiary of the Hettich Group for just over 35 years and between our internal and external sales teams alone, we’ve got more than 300 years of service.

Globally, Hettich operates in around 80 countries, turning over €1.4bn in 2025 and we regularly invest  €100m or more a year in new products, manufacturing and future projects – so we’re a company deeply embedded in the fabric of this industry.

And that experience means resilience and longevity are a huge part of our DNA.

Looking across the industry, I’d say that it feels like there are two very different markets operating at once at the moment, especially in the UK. The businesses doing well are seeing strong double-digit growth, while others are finding conditions extremely difficult. There’s not much middle ground at the moment. The successful companies seem to have real momentum, while others are struggling to find it.

And that makes forecasting and predicting what comes next difficult for any business.

But Hettich has experienced plenty of disruptions across our nearly 140-year history and what we’ve learned over the years is the importance of staying close to our customers, understanding exactly what they need from us and making sure we have the right products available at the right time. That’s what has put us in a strong position.

Planning

For instance, we’re always planning a long way into the future. From a UK perspective we’re already forecasting stock requirements and writing business plans through to 2029.

The wider Hettich Group is looking even further ahead than that. Investment in new factories, new products and manufacturing is being planned well into the next decade. That’s one of the advantages of being part of a business that’s been around for so long. Long-term thinking is part of the culture.

The trick is balancing the need to keep an eye on the market while staying true to what Hettich really does best as we’ve always aimed to lead through innovation rather than follow. 

Our FurnSpin system is a good example. When we launched it at the massive German trade show Interzum it really captured people’s attention because nobody else had anything like it. For us, innovation isn’t just about creating new products, it’s about giving customers ideas and showing them new possibilities that they can take into their own furniture designs.

Of course there’s always risk involved with launching something new, but we invest heavily in research, customer workshops and market feedback before products ever reach the market. Ambition and bold vision coupled with a willingness to listen to feedback from the customer is the perfect mix.

Supply chain resilience has also become even more important over the last few years, and that’s continued to change our business as well. Forecasting has become even more important and it allows us to maintain continuity of supply.

We’ve also expanded our warehouse by around 20% because customers increasingly expect products to be available immediately. It’s a significant investment, but it’s one that’s been driven directly by customer demand.

Ultimately, our relationship with customers is what runs through everything we do, and in fact, I’d say our closeness with customers is one of our core values. 

Our team has accumulated hundreds of years of product knowledge, but that consistency and communication are every bit as important as the products themselves.