Howdens kitchen - finding a builder

AFF8879

Hi all,

I'm looking to have my kitchen renovated in the next few months and have heard very good reviews of Howdens Joinery. They appear to have depots all around the country including one about 15 mins walk from me in east London. However, they only sell directly to professionals.

Has anyone had experience in searching for a builder to fit a kitchen with Howdens (or a similar company)? My parents had their kitchen done by them and mentioned that the pricing depends on the level of membership that the builder has with them - I.e discounts are offered to the builder on a tiered level with quite a big range in prices (ranging from obscene to quite good value).

Obviously I don't want to pay through the nose - has anyone been able to find a builder and specifically get a good price?

Annie1960

The Howdens system does not have opaque pricing, and you will probably never know how much discount the fitter is getting.

If you really want to use them, ask Howdens for a list of local fitters.

katejo

AFF8879 wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm looking to have my kitchen renovated in the next few months and have heard very good reviews of Howdens Joinery. They appear to have depots all around the country including one about 15 mins walk from me in east London. However, they only sell directly to professionals.

Has anyone had experience in searching for a builder to fit a kitchen with Howdens (or a similar company)? My parents had their kitchen done by them and mentioned that the pricing depends on the level of membership that the builder has with them - I.e discounts are offered to the builder on a tiered level with quite a big range in prices (ranging from obscene to quite good value).

Obviously I don't want to pay through the nose - has anyone been able to find a builder and specifically get a good price?

As you are in East London, I can recommend one to you. Send me a private email if interested. My kitchen is actually Magnet Trade but Howdens was my close 2nd choice (with the same fitter)

LEJC

In my experience the discount can be anywhere between 20% and 80%.
We had a howdens kitchen fitted 4 years ago as part of a large renovation project.
We chose the builder we used based on varying factors but all that quoted for the job seemed more than happy to be divulging the amount of discount on the kitchen that would be offered.
Are we happy with the kitchen...its ok...its in a rental property and we went for a mid range price ....
From memory its cheapest to avoid some combinations of units or things that rotate/self close unless you really desire that in your kitchen as these are not always items that can be discounted and hence areas where the prices are inflated.

Would I buy another howdens kitchen....I'd certainly get a quote and go from there...but then I would probably have a look at other things too...but the one we have has worn well so I cant offer a horror story!