european-kitchen-design.com

Kitchen brands Smallbone of Devizes and Mark Wilkinson Furniture look set to continue under new ownership.

Mark Wilkinson has been retained as head of design and it is believed that Martin Warbrick will take a sales and marketing role in the new company.

Smallbone of Devizes

On 19 March 2009, Rob Lewis and Mark Shires of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP were appointed as administrators to Smallbone plc and its UK subsidiaries, Smallbone & Co (Devizes) Limited and Mark Wilkinson Furniture Limited.

Immediately following their appointment, the administrators completed a sale of the business and assets of Smallbone and Mark Wilkinson to Canburg Limited, a company owned by Leo Caplan.

The sale secures the employment of over 400 staff and protects the position of customer deposits taken by the companies prior to the administration.

As part of the sales agreement, Canburg has agreed to honour orders where customers have paid deposits.

Mark Wilkinsons

Leo Caplan is one of those larger-than-life characters rarely found in the KBB market. He famously founded Morgan Brookes who supply a range of digital copying, telecoms, IT and document management systems in 1999 using money from the sale of his Porsche.

The appointment of Martin Warbrick, if confirmed, shows that Caplan knows a thing or two about running a kitchen company as well.

Warbrick is arguably one of the kitchen industry’s most skilful marketers. Together with David Saxby he was responsible for establishing SieMatic in Britain. More recently he was the driving force behind the development of Christians as an exclusive, upmarket kitchen both in the UK and the USA.

Meanwhile, it is believed that a number of managerial staff will be leaving the Smallbone and Mark Wilkinson brands; these do not include Cynthia Wilkinson who has been retained as a consultant in recognition of the managerial skill she has brought to Mark Wilkinson Furniture over many years.

Smallbone had a turnover of £21 million in 2008, and employed 161 people, 129 in Devizes in Wiltshire and 32 based at 12 showrooms around the UK. Mark Wilkinson had a turnover of £26 million in 2008. It employs 277 people, with 200 in Bromham and 77 in showrooms around the UK.
Kitchen brands Smallbone of Devizes and Mark Wilkinson Furniture look set to continue under new ownership.

Mark Wilkinson has been retained as head of design and it is believed that Martin Warbrick will take a sales and marketing role in the new company.
On 19 March 2009, Rob Lewis and Mark Shires of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP were appointed as administrators to Smallbone plc and its UK subsidiaries, Smallbone & Co (Devizes) Limited and Mark Wilkinson Furniture Limited.

Immediately following their appointment, the administrators completed a sale of the business and assets of Smallbone and Mark Wilkinson to Canburg Limited, a company owned by Leo Caplan.

The sale secures the employment of over 400 staff and protects the position of customer deposits taken by the companies prior to the administration.
As part of the sales agreement, Canburg has agreed to honour orders where customers have paid deposits.

Leo Caplan is one of those larger-than-life characters rarely found in the KBB market. He famously founded Morgan Brookes who supply a range of digital copying, telecoms, IT and document management systems in 1999 using money from the sale of his Porsche.

The appointment of Martin Warbrick, if confirmed, shows that Caplan knows a thing or two about running a kitchen company as well.

Warbrick is arguably one of the kitchen industry’s most skilful marketers. Together with David Saxby he was responsible for establishing SieMatic in Britain. More recently he was the driving force behind the development of Christians as an exclusive, upmarket kitchen both in the UK and the USA.

Meanwhile, it is believed that a number of managerial staff will be leaving the Smallbone and Mark Wilkinson brands; these do not include Cynthia Wilkinson who has been retained as a consultant in recognition of the managerial skill she has brought to Mark Wilkinson Furniture over many years.

Smallbone had a turnover of £21 million in 2008, and employed 161 people, 129 in Devizes in Wiltshire and 32 based at 12 showrooms around the UK. Mark Wilkinson had a turnover of £26 million in 2008. It employs 277 people, with 200 in Bromham and 77 in showrooms around the UK.

I always loved success stories of family owned businesses that excelled against the big conglmerates and ranked at the top while maintaining their original roots and not selling out.

From its humble beginnings in a small carpenter’s workshop in 1938, Häcker Küchen has developed into one of the leading European suppliers of high-quality fitted kitchens. As a matter of fact, Häcker is today the second largest single European kitchen company (not counting kitchen groups, with several companies under one corporate identity). 

“Our products, together with a wide range of services, enable us to offer value-added services going far beyond the customer’s expectations.” Häcker Küchen is a family-owned enterprise steeped in tradition and run by Horst Finkemeier, Jochen Finkemeier and Axel Stallmann.

Häcker Küchen

Emotion

The extravagant design concept modern looks require modern furnishing solutions going far beyond the normal kitchen. The combination of furniture and creative ideas provides unlimited scope for freedom of design. Front and carcase materials of the highest quality, well thought-out possibilities regarding interior organization and innovative lighting technology are the distinguishing features of this design-oriented range. “emotion” strives to create exclusive, tailor-made solutions to satisfy the discriminating customer

Häcker Küchen

Emotion Art

Extravagant design with sleek geometric lines targets international tastes, thereby taking all aspects of urban living into account. “emotion” and “emotionART” regard themselves as concepts which are not content with the normal range of planning possibilities; these concepts rather start where others end, namely with regard to the design of kitchen environments with that extra-special touch and flair. The ‘handle-less’ variations makes it possible to achieve an unlimited variety of ideas and make the clear-cut lines between the cooking and eating area less distinct - for boundless individuality.

Pedini, already an environmentally friendly company, is now turning a deeper and a stronger shade of green.

For years, Pedini has been producing their box construction as a completely green product. It is formaldehyde free, made of 100% recycled wood and all the wood veneer used comes exclusively from sustainable sources.
Now the people at Pedini have gone one step further and upgraded their box construction.

Green Pedini kitchen in Artika glossy red lacquer

The Marine Grade (water-proof) Ecological Panel that Pedini is now using, is made from 100% post-consumption wooden material, is Forest Stewardship Council certified (FSC) and has the absolute lowest formaldehyde emissions in the world.

The new green kitchen model from Pedini - Dune

This Marine Grade Ecological Panel represents a revolutionary material that provides a perfect synthesis between safeguarding the environment and concern for the health of the consumer.

Additionally, another important factor in Pedini’s on-going efforts to protect the environment is the fact that they are truly an eco-friendly brand.  Unlike other companies that create one or two “politically-correct” green products, in a factory that also manufactures non-green items, Pedini exclusively produces green products and adheres entirely to environmentally friendly practices in their production facilities.

Green eco friendly kitchens

For additional information go to Pedini Green.