I found a posting on @DIYweeknews regarding the current discussions about the kitchen compare website, so I posted a reply:
I own & run an independent kitchen studio on the Wirral designing & offering products from Chippendale, Sheraton, lakes, K Kitchens & Colonial plus lots of different appliance, worktop and sink manufacturers, I have provided people with £64k kitchens and we are doing one this week for £3k. We offer an unrivalled advice/design service for our market area, and the quality of our products are far far higher than the ones from the likes of B&Q, Magnet, Homebase, Wickes and Ikea, we are definitely less expensive in most cases and do not hike our prices to stupid figures only to reduce them by ridiculous amounts to tempt people in. When I give a fitting price it lists everything that is included and tells you what is not included, we won Merseyside Local Trader of the year in 2010 as voted by customers and received a design award in 2011, we are members of the FKBD Federation of Kitchen & Bathroom Designers and are FSB members (federation of small businesses). Unfortunately we are not on the Kitchen compare website because we design to suite what our clients want. We currently have an offer with 12 very good quality cabinets (better than the Sheds and Magnet)with laminate worktops, sink, taps, cornice, pelmet, plinth and Baumatic oven, hob, hood,fridge freezer, dishwasher for £3500 supplied. So in reply to Andy Steuart you do not have to spend £20k + and in reply to Steve Collinge. Yes you have to start somewhere but it would be nice if his website would point out the companies on his site are only a small representation of the kitchen industry and there are independents who can offer a service and products for similar or less than the companies quoted on the site. Being a Trustmark member or any other acronym member DOES NOT guarantee the client that they are getting the job that they think they are, people need to do their homework before jumping in feet first with thousands of pounds only to find the back up service stinks. People just need to type into their search engine "Problems with" such and such a company and see what comes up. If we make a mistake we correct it and that is the way it should be.
Russell
