New kitchen - where to start?

[missminimum]

We are in the early stages of thinking about replacing our kitchen. We have never done anything like this before and I would appreciate advice of how to start. We know we want to replace the whole kitchen, new flooring, tiling and appliances. We also want to move the current sink area and replace an existing old patio door with a window ( where the new sink would be). I expect some new electric sockets could be needed
Should we start with a builder for this work or could a " property maintenance" company deal with it? Where do we go to get a competitve quote for a new kitchen and appliances? Our budget is not huge, but neither do we want to do it on the cheap and find we regret our choices
Any advice from those more experienced in these matters would be appreciated

start from the walls outwards we planned to the nth degree what the kitchen would look like we went with DIY Kitchens, then when we had a date to work to we booked everyone to the day, so four weeks before kitchen came we booked the electrician to do first fixing as we needed all new plugs due to changing the layout, the day before he came we took the old units out, day after electrician did first fix plugs we booked the plasterer to come as most of the plaster came away with the units, week after plasterer electrician to do second fix, then we painted the walls, then fitter booked for day after the kitchen came two days for fitters, and then we went shopping for wall tiles which OH did it was like planning a military operation but all went to plan

and appliances go with an independent company we only needed a gas cooker so we went john lewis AO.com are supposed to be good prices for appliances too

Decide your budget first. Then id go get a kitchen layout dine at a high street place that you would consider, then get a few builders round to quite for the work- whether that includes the kitchen fitting or not. The builder can do the structural work and prep the area fir the kitchen (may require electrician and plumber depending on your kitchen layout). Then I think its floors then kitchen then tiling. Remember a good builder will need some lead time, and kitchens can take a few weeks to be ordered too.