Analysis // Kitchen Market Report
the industry, but when it comes to forensic examination of what’s really happening you have
T
to go to the numbers… Every year, JKMR publishes the ‘Overview Report on the UK Fitted Kitchen Market’ and it’s a fascinating insight
into the quantitative performance of the sector against the wider economic backdrop. And the headline numbers paint a worrying picture. The number of new kitchens installed in 2023 was more than
11% lower than 2022 installation levels. The causes of the decline can be summed up by two things. Firstly,
a significant proportion of households have been put off discretionary big-ticket purchases after seeing their disposable income fall once housing and utility costs are deducted and, secondly, new build completions have been substantially lower over the year. This fall puts the number of 2023 installations below 1.15m, a level not seen since 2015 (outside of the very Covid affected 2020). This is a revealing number but
it’s worth comparing the UK kitchen market of 2015 with 2023 beyond installation. One obvious difference is market value. In 2015 JKMR calculated that end client buying price sales for the core fitted kitchen products (cabinetry, tops, integrated MDAs, sinks and taps) were just over £3.5bn. In 2023 it was over £5.2bn. In other words, the industry generated half as much money again from the same number of installations – which sounds positive. However, if you look at operating profit as a percentage of turnover for the major companies who have filed 2023 financial year accounts so far, very few show a 2023 level above that of 2015. So, while the industry is invoicing far more money, it isn’t necessarily translating
into improved bottom lines, because the cost of making those products, like the cost of selling those products, has gone up substantially in the last eight years. Another difference is distribution of sales by price segment. In 2015, our data
showed over 75% of all kitchens sold - both retail and new build/social housing - fell into JKMR’s lowest three price categories of ‘Basic’, ‘Budget’ and ‘Lower-Mid’, while 13.5% fell into its highest three of ‘Upper’, ‘Premium’, and ‘Luxury’. In 2023, 71.5% fell into the lowest three categories but almost 15.5% into the
top three and that’s after the starting price for the ‘Upper’ and above increasing almost 50% since 2015. This means, over the past eight years, clients with high-end budgets (including
new build equivalent) have become more important throughout the market. There are several important factors at play here: rising house prices have made
relative investment in a new kitchen shift upward; new build keeps leaning more towards larger detached houses; the market has further matured and clients on their third or fourth kitchen want the latest taps, tops, and appliances; and the kitchen has moved far beyond being a practical room to a stylish space that is expected to epitomise the householder’s whole lifestyle and personality. One thing that hasn’t changed is that trade-facing routes to market dominate
1.15m
The number of kitchen installations in 2023, the lowest since 2015
> September 2024 kbbreview 21
Howdens and Wren accounted for half of all new kitchen projects in 2023
50%
he anecdotal experiences of individual businesses is vital for a broad understanding of the qualitative health of
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