SUPPLIER PROFILE | Callerton
‘Independents are at the
CORE OF OUR BUSINESS’
As Sunderland-based kitchen manufacturer Callerton prepares to celebrate four decades in the industry, Rebecca Nottingham speaks to CEO Dawn Short about how the brand is celebrating this milestone and her plans for its future
the KBB sector today. But, unlike Callerton, very few of those manufacturing and supply businesses were borne out of the founders’ own experience of designing and selling kitchens to consumers.
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“The business began 40 years ago when founders James Herriot and Gordon Stanger-Leathes set up a small property development business in Newcastle,” explains Dawn Short, Callerton CEO. “Having seen some of the kitchens they’d designed and installed in their developments, friends and relatives began asking them to help them update their own kitchens. After a while, they decided to manufacture their own brand of furniture, and Callerton was born.” Short – a chartered accountant by trade – joined
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any suppliers claim to understand what it takes to operate as an independent on the retail frontline of
Callerton in 2007 as financial director and, following co-founder James Herriot’s decision to step down from the day-to-day running of the company, was promoted to the role of CEO in 2021. “My route to becoming CEO of a kitchen manufacturing business isn’t perhaps as conventional as most,” Short explains. “After qualifying as a chartered accountant, I joined Tyne Tees TV and a career at Scottish and Newcastle brewery followed. “I was very lucky to be introduced to [Callerton founders] Gordon and James and we very quickly discovered we all shared the same values of fairness, relationships and integrity.
“I can honestly say that I find the kitchen business and wider industry exciting and rewarding – it certainly didn’t disappoint even after working in TV. It is challenging, none more so than in recent years, but I’ve met some amazing, talented people and
Abstract
Expressions doors in Silver Grey Metal Slate with Monza Matt Light Grey
Callerton CEO, Dawn Short · February 2023
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