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Our climate change champion Richard Hagan, managing director of Crystal Doors, believes growth cannot be sustainable if it is based on digging more stuff out of the ground to make more throwaway products
The way to
NET ZERO KITCHENS
The Used Kitchen Company turns 17
THE USED Kitchen Company, which specialises in reselling ex-display and used kitchens, is celebrating 17 years in business. The Used Kitchen Company (TUKC) was founded in 2005 when Looeeze Grossman saw lots of perfectly good kitchens ending up in landfill. Since then, the company has grown and rehomed 8,000 kitchens, saving the equivalent of 30,000 tons of waste going to landfill. During TUKC’s 17 years, Grossman has worked with showrooms and end customers to make them feel comfortable with the concept of recycling their
is circular
BACK WHEN Liz Truss was still Prime Minister the Government commissioned an independent review into how the UK could achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions while still meeting an economic growth target of 2.5% every year. The fear was that the race to net zero – becoming
greener, more sustainable and more energy-efficient – risks damaging growth by adding extra burdens on already struggling businesses and consumers during these difficult economic times. Liz Truss and her advisors clearly missed the memo that a) we’re in difficult economic times largely due to being inefficient with our energy and too dependent on fossil fuels in the first place, and b) our struggles will look trivial compared with what we will be handing over to our children and grandchildren if we decide to let our climate commitments slide. The question at the heart of all this is, what kind of 2.5% growth is sustainable? It certainly isn’t material growth. Digging more and more stuff out of the ground to churn out more and more throwaway products is not compatible with a sustainable future. Look where it has taken us – the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is now nearly a third higher than it was in 1970. Just like the natural world around us,
Companies that manufacture and genuine circular economy kitchens will dominate the future furniture market
growth can only be sustainable if it is circular: buying for long-life; reusing and recycling; making sure nothing goes to waste. Our industry is at the beginning of
this
old kitchens and buying used kitchens. Grossman said: “We are thrilled to be celebrating over 17 years in business. As the market leader in this industry, we’ve helped our customers be more sustainable when it comes to their kitchen renovations, and also save money and reduce landfill contributions in the process. We’re very grateful to all the brands that have joined our mission over the years. Without them we wouldn’t have the most extensive collection of used and ex-display kitchens.
“Knowing The Used Kitchen Company has simultaneously been a major force in cutting back on the unnecessary waste sent to landfill is another huge buzz for me and our team and one that keeps us motivated and determined to convince all home renovators to recycle their kitchen.” The website is a marketplace for both used and ex-display kitchens and has a dedicated section for bathrooms, bedrooms and home furnishings, which continues to grow year after year. More than 1,200 kitchen showrooms in the UK work with TUKC to sell their displays. Selling the displays via TUKC means that the showroom does not have to store the displays or have the extra expense of hiring a skip. Grossman said: “It’s never been a more exciting time to be in business, as new kitchen sales continue to rise, we see the direct impact with the increase in used kitchens we sell. We may have had 17 amazingly successful years under our belt, but we know there are so many more to come.” As a way to celebrate 17 years as a company, TUKC will be announcing a number of new partnerships and the launch of yet another sustainability initiative.
Omega aims for growth in contracts market
BRITISH KITCHEN manufacturer Omega is aiming to build on its success in the contracts
market with significant tran-
sition. Kitchens, bed - rooms and bathrooms have for decades been a fashion statement. We get new colours and incre- mental improvements each year, but what happens to the carcasses
that get thrown out? Most are skipped and burnt in incinerators, or worse end up in landfill. Hardly ever are they reused or recycled into something valuable, save for a tiny 5% or so that becomes chipboard. This business model is simply not sustainable. Sadly, it cannot be offset by ‘doing good’ elsewhere. Planting a few new trees has little value when you consider around 15 billion trees aged 50 years or older have been cut down globally over the past three years The global multi-billion turnover companies are failing to realise how fragile their business models are. It is my belief that the companies that manufacture genuine circular economy kitchens will dominate the future furniture market, and the big corporates aren’t set up for this. Imagine a kitchen that could be easily disassembled and reassembled for reuse, that could be upgraded as technology advances rather than replaced. Imagine a £10k kitchen that’s still worth £10k in 10 years. Now that would be economic genius.
January 2023 ·
investment in its service structure. In a statement, the Yorkshire-based business said it had “established itself as a major player in the contracts market” over the past six years. The brand revealed it is planning to build on this success by “reinforcing the managerial structure” and by expanding the team to enable and support continued growth. The brand has already invested
over
£500,000 in a 13,000sq ft showroom, to enhance its proposition and service offering for retailers and developers.
Omega sales director John Cahill said: “Excellence in customer service is what achieves long-term customer relationships. I am proud of the investment and infrastructure we have in place.” “Omega are industry leaders in aftercare
service,” commented Katy Snow, national head of contract operations at Omega. “This is demonstrated by the number of home developers we supply to, who exclusively work with us. Our aftercare service is integral to our contracts customers and one of the many reasons they continue to work with Omega.” Omega invested millions to secure raw materials pre-Brexit to support both its retail and developer partners. It has also made further investment in its manufacturing facility and logistics to, it says, guarantee a robust domestic supply chain and on-time delivery. Speaking
about its sustainable focus,
Omega plc chief executive Simon Barber said: “In 2018, Omega invested £20 million back into the business with a focus on our future sustainability and corporate social responsibility goals. We created a best-in-class manufac- turing and support centre offering the best kitchens in the UK, with an underlying foundation to achieve a brighter future for our people, partners, and the planet. We support UN Sustainable Development Goals, which we have integrated into our business practice.” “We have continued to make ongoing day-to-day changes and develop initiatives throughout the organisation that can aid our corporate and social
responsibility and the
long-term impact on the planet. “We have actively set up steering groups to investigate and act upon which will all feed into our future measures and ultimately help to achieve our goals.”
15
Climate
Champion Change
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