We are looking to do a rear extension on our house, and we've had an architect recommended by a friend. The architect has unfortunately got about half-way through his responsibilities, and has fallen off the face of the earth, hasn't submitted planning, etc. Anyway, we've now wasted over a month trying to get hold of him and subsequently, we're now on a pretty tight (but ultimately possible) deadline.
For those of you who have done these things before, I need your advice please. We need to have everything done by end of September (build is a pretty straightforward extension and a new kitchen) - given that timeline, is it possible to save some money and source everything ourselves, or would you suggest paying up and going for an all-in-one sort of company? My concern is the lack of wiggle room if things go wrong, if we source things ourselves.
We've spoken with one company (Holloways of Ludlow/Kitchens by Holloway) who do everything from beginning to end. That's obviously a very appealing proposition, but I'm expecting to pay handsomely for that. Has anyone used them before for something similar and can you give me an idea of what yours cost? Are there any other end-to-end companies that you've used before that you'd recommend? I'm in SW London, if that helps, though willing to travel to showrooms elsewhere if it's worth it.
Sorry, a million questions and I'm a bit all over the place, but any help you can give me I would appreciate!