Retailer profile // Connaught Kitchens
‘Relationships are everything’
What is the key to longevity in the challenging and competitive KBB industry? Aſter 33 years in business, Phillip Ozorio, the owner of Connaught Kitchens in London, reveals all…
Words: Rebecca Nottingham
moving to Bruton Kitchens in London during the 80s. In 1991 he branched out on his own launching Connaught Kitchens in the affluent Connaught Village, a stone’s throw away from the capital’s kitchen alley, Wigmore Street. “Once I had a taste and passion for kitchen design, it became my ambition
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to set up my own business,” Phillip Ozorio explains. “Initially I was looking to open the business in a shopping centre in Ealing, but I was turned down because they didn’t feel it would meet the tone they were trying
to achieve. I always laugh when I go to that shopping centre now because it’s got a Primark and a pound shop in it! In hindsight though, I don’t think it was the right space for us anyway. They close the centre early evening which wouldn’t always work for us and, although it’s an affluent area you don’t have the same budgets as we do here. “Once I’d seen this space though, I couldn’t think of anywhere else I’d want the business to be. It’s been a journey
from there.” Set over two floors, the 1,200sq ft boutique showroom has two displays upstairs and four room-set displays
downstairs. On the furniture side, Connaught is now a solus Leicht dealer and this offering is complimented by partnerships with brands like Miele, Siemens, Lacanche, Bora, Quooker, Buster & Punch and Franke. “When I set up the business, being on the doorstep of Wigmore Street I was initially quite limited in terms of the
brands I could take on because of competition and the need for exclusivity. But many of these supplier partnerships go back right to when we opened in 1991 and that’s down to the people and relationships that you must continue to nurture. “Nothing’s ever perfect but it’s how a company deals with challenges or issues to make them less painful for the retailer that makes a good supplier and that is experience and service driven.”
Rapport Connaught’s relationships go so deep with Leicht in particular, that he refers to his contacts there as colleagues. And it’s not just supplier and customer relationships that Ozorio values and works hard to nurture. The business employs two fully trained interior designers, Chiara Scartezzini and Hrisiana Angarova [see box out] with whom Ozorio has a fantastic rapport which is demonstrated over a leisurely lunch during kbbreview’s visit. If you align with the saying ‘people buy from people’, when you meet Ozorio it’s easy to see why his business is still thriving after 33 years. “The business is based on relationships,” he says. “They are everything. Over the years we have built up a loyal base
of key architects, interior designers and small developers who use us two or three times a year and that formulates around 90% of our current business. “We do come up against some of the Wigmore Street retailers from time to time. If it is feasting time, competition is fine, but when it’s famine and you’re hearing of clients visiting five or six different showrooms before deciding on their project, that can make London feel quite small. That said, we go back a long way with some of the guys on Wigmore Street so there’s also a feeling of community at times.” Running an independent business for 33 years is no mean feat, so, is there a secret to success like this? “We set up in a recession and since then we’ve experienced another financial crisis, Brexit and Covid, to name a few
58 kbbreview September 2024
here’s no doubt that Phillip Ozorio is well-placed to offer expert opinion on how to build a successful career in the KBB industry. He started out in kitchen design with Just Kitchens before
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