Howdens kitchen fitters in London

SimPaul

Can anyone recommend someone to fit a Howden kitchen in Kensington, London?

Also, how does it work at Howdens - do they have a designer, or do you have to work it out yourself?

BB1984

Don't know any fitters in London, but I have recently had a Howdens kitchen fitted myself - and they have a designer that will come to your house, talk through what you want etc. Then they go away, and come back with a scale floor plan and itemised list of what it includes, and a 3-D image of what it will look like. I've been really impressed by Howdens' customer service - the staff are so friendly and helpful.

BB

SimPaul

BB1984 wrote: »

Don't know any fitters in London, but I have recently had a Howdens kitchen fitted myself - and they have a designer that will come to your house, talk through what you want etc. Then they go away, and come back with a scale floor plan and itemised list of what it includes, and a 3-D image of what it will look like. I've been really impressed by Howdens' customer service - the staff are so friendly and helpful.

BB

That's really useful - thanks

How did you arrange that? - I can't even find a number for them!

TigerTanaka

The official line is that Howdens only sell to the trade (ie registered customers). The builder who has a customer interested in a kitchen gets Howdens to go out and plan it (without giving you a price). They then give the builder a price for the goods and he sells it on to you with a price including his fee for the fit. He may or may not pass his discount on to you.

In practice, Howdens (like any kitchen supplier) are experiencing tough market conditions at the moment and need the business. Their previous Trade Only policy is being ignored by many depots so you may be able to buy the goods directly but dont count on it. If you find a builder he will definately be able to source the goods for you from Howdens but just watch his price.

Phone numbers are not shown on their website (although some depot numbers - not all - are in the yellow pages). Park Royal is probably the nearest to you but also check out Benchmarx (also at Park Royal) and Magnet Trade (similar stuff to Magnet's fancy retail showroom on Kensington High Street but slighlty lower spec) at Willesden near White City. Personally, I would not recommend going to a traditional builders merchant for a kitchen.

Hope this helps.

Hoploz

I contacted Howdens through my carpenter recently. I went to show counter to have a look at the goods, they ended up calling me back personally and virtually begging me to buy the kitchen! Offering huge discounts and when I said I wasn't quite ready (the extension walls were not even up at that time so I couldn't finalise the plan) he just kept offering me more and more discount! I held my nerve and still said no, and in the end he indicated the same price would be available when I was ready.