Howdens is a national company with a truly local feel

Howdens is a trade-only kitchen supplier, but that doesn’t mean you can’t visit their showroom and see the beautiful kitchens they have on offer.

“We have kitchens for every style and every budget”, said depot manager Darren Clarke. “We have everything from the ultra-modern with slab, handless and push-to-open cupboards, to the more traditional Shaker-style farmhouse kitchens. Rigid cabinets or flat pack there is Something for everyone’s budget.

“We supply luxury solid wood fronted kitchens, but we also have wrapped MDF in a variety of finishes and an entry level wrapped chipboard, so there really is something for every budget.”

Lamona is Howdens own brand of integrated appliances manufactured by some of the best companies in the world they come with a THREE-YEAR GUARANTEE which covers call outs, repair and if necessary replacement.

Howdens only provides kitchens through trade accounts, as in Darren’s words “kitchens are not easy to fit”, but as soon as you have a builder or kitchen fitter in mind, you’re good to go. “We have 550 trade accounts so we cover the whole of the South Hams” he said.

Darren explained that the entire industry is currently extremely busy, with some issues caused by Covid/pingdemic affecting supply chains and manufacturing, but being a local company with a national supply chain gives them a competitive edge allowing delivery within two weeks of confirmation of order.

“We also manufacture almost 40 per cent of our own products in the UK, which we will increase to 55 per cent in the near future, and that means we can stock and supply with no worries. Our turnaround from order to delivery is currently about two weeks, although obviously a bespoke design would take longer at the planning stage.”

If it's a bespoke design you’re after, Howdens has you covered there too, with their in house design service. “We can organise a site survey, create a design that works for the customer and is within budget. We then work with the builder to arrange delivery of the kitchen at a time that is convenient for both parties.

“All our cabinets are designed to be fitted as quickly as possible saving the fitter time and you money . In fact we have recently patented a new cabinet leg which is five times stronger than the usual leg and can support a two-metre tower from lying down to standing. Normal legs can cause problems because they snap under pressure or weight.

It’s not just their customers who think Howdens is great value for money, their cabinets have recently been named ‘Best Buy’ by consumer company Which?. They also have a Royal Warrant of Appointment (by appointment of HM The Queen), a mark of recognition of those who have supplied goods or services to the Households of HM The Queen or HRH The Prince of Wales for at least five years, and who have an ongoing trading arrangement.

As each Howdens location functions reasonably separately, it means that they are able to react to local markets and plough their efforts back into the local community. It also means that the tradespeople they work with will usually be someone clients have heard of, they’ve either had work done by them before or a friend or relative has.

“It gives us a real local feel”, Darren added, “we do very little national advertising, we let the work and the products speak for themselves.”

Howdens donate around £2,000/year, to local good causes through each trade depot. Recently they have supplied kitchens for Kingsbridge Library, Malborough pre-school, the new community shop at Ermington, and local sports clubs, as well as occasionally supporting them with cash donations throughout the year.

If you would like to contact Howdens and take advantage of the free survey and plans that they offer, visit their listing on SouthHams.com HERE or call 01548 857408.