One for the resident kitchen experts - truly British companies?

Doozergirl

On my list of British manufacturers who use independent resellers, I have one name. Mereway.

Are there any others? I know Symphony manufacture carcasses here, not doors. Crown Imperial?

Any help much appreciated!

ryder72

It depends on what you call British.

Mereway do a lot of modern doors which are sourced mainly for Italy. Even that range is called Cucina Colore emphasizing a European connection.

There is one single Egger chipboard manufacturing plant in the UK and Egger isnt a British company.

All manufactuers user hinge/runner systems made by Blum/Grass or Hettich, all European.

I would say about the only companies that can call themselves truly british are the bespoke joineries that make inframe solid wood or sprayed MDF doors, use veneered or sprayed MDF carcases with solid wood drawer boxes, butt hinges. Such a high level of bespoke work means that would produce very small number of kitchens and at exorbitant prices.

None of the mainstream British manufacturers (Mereway, Omega, Symphony etc) and anywhere close to British as you think they are. They may be British owned companies and thats about it. Their products are neither cheap nor good.

Doozergirl

Thanks

So who compares in price and is good, to the likes of Mereway & the better Symphony ranges? And why?

PheoUK

Not sure if it fits your bill (no resellers) but DIY Kitchens is british I believe.

Doozergirl

I'm not asking from the position of a consumer, so it does not answer my question, but thank you.

ryder72

Doozergirl - Arguably Mereway or Omega are probably the best of the British 'manufactured' kitchens. Calling them British is pushing it a bit.

This might sound like a 'stuck record' to some people, but when you compare prices of these products to some of the German products and then look at the quality of manufacture, detailing, flexibility etc, German products are very difficult to ignore. In fact I would go a step further and say that buying 'British' to make a point is a bit 'cut your nose to spite your face' as it just does not stack up.

Doozergirl

So which German products would you look at instead?

Rotpunkt is at the bottom? Siematic is too expensive, I think?

Furts

I have a UK made kitchen. I wanted to "Buy British" so this was written into the specification. The carcasses are Egger board, made in UK, and these are cut, lipped and assembled into rigid carcasses at a joinery works in the UK. This joinery company used the UK company nearby to supply the solid oak pelmets, cornice, fronts, and doors. Here I had to realistic - there are not enormous forests of oak in the UK awaiting felling to be made into kitchens. Hence it is European Oak - I am guessing it is French. The runners and hinges are Blum - made in Europe.

I did not seek a German kitchen because this was outside the requirements of the specification. However I can make two statements. First my kitchen is fit for purpose and does what it says on the tin. Let us get real here and remain unemotional - it is just a kitchen, like a window is just a window and a door is just a door. Second, I did inspect a number of German kitchens at trade shows. I rated these as having unneccessary features, poorly designed, and of average quality and durability. I did ask about prices, but the implications were that I would be taken for a ride.

The German quality and price pitch always puzzles me. Why does the building industry use Magnet Trade and Howdens if the German manufacturers provide better quality and better prices?

Equally, why are the German manufacturers not setting up trade warehouses and merchant depots to supply their kitchens to the building trade?

Might the answers to these questions include branding, price structures, protecting their brand image, supporting the established small retailers...?

cddc

The only British mainstream company that make their own doors are Wren. Sadly they are not very good at it! See copious Wren threads for details.

DIY import their doors, as do pretty much everyone else, from Italy.

There are good reasons for this. Established suppliers with the machinery and expertise to produce a good quality door for a reasonable price.

Mereway are probably the best of British carcasse manufacturers (but normally the most expensive). Crown Imperial probably second.


Sheraton/Symphony/Chippendale etc. units are no better than some of those available from your local DIY store or trade shed.

Just because they are sold via the indy route does not mean they are better kitchens. Most of the DIY sheds have UK manufactured carcasses to a similar standard at the upper end of their ranges.


It is also worth noting that almost everyone uses German hinges and drawer boxes.

leveller2911

cddc wrote: »

DIY import their doors, as do pretty much everyone else, from Italy.

There are good reasons for this. Established suppliers with the machinery and expertise to produce a good quality door for a reasonable price.

It would take 1 man less than a hour to write the programme for a CNC machine to make a particular door style. Once the programme is written they can make 50 million of those doors and 1 michine with a machine minder can make hundreds of doors a day so there really isn't "expertise" to making doors these days its all computerised manufacturing.

Mereway are probably the best of British carcasse manufacturers (but normally the most expensive). Crown Imperial probably second.

I don't have any experience of Mereway etc so what makes their carcases better than say DIY kitchens?....

It is also worth noting that almost everyone uses German hinges and drawer boxes.

I agree with you but it puzzles me as to why companies here don't seem to make drawer boxes and hinges?. You would think the Chinese would be in the market as they are very good at copying Western technology, not so much in quality but price. I thought Grass were Austrian.

Not so long ago I made a kitchen and used Blum "Bluemotion" runners and they were rubbish and fell apart within a couple of months so I had to replace them all with Grass runners. I have always been impressed with BLUM up until then.

cddc

My opinions on carcasses are more from spec's and observations than anything else lev...

DIY are good for what you pay! If you know what you want and can plan it, they make far more sense in my mind than a trade shed!

I take your point on doors and CNC machines, but if it is so easy, how come Wren have got it so wrong this year? Their quality control is shocking! There must be a valid reason why more people don't do it and everyone buys from Italy.

There are people out there bringing in kitchens from China. They are cheap. They are not good! Vance Miller and his henchmen come to mind.....

Agree that Blum's halo seems to be slipping a bit. I wonder if they , despite their German name, have moved production eastwards......