Kitchen company or buy units & employ a tradesman

[Ladyof2025]

Never renewed a whole kitchen before so asking advice of those who have.

Is it better to (a) hand it all over to one company like Magnet/Wickes/Wren etc and let them do the lot

or

(b) Carry out the designing and purchasing myself and employ a single sole trader kitchen fitter?

Pros and cons?

Magnet are good quality. We had 3 designs and quotes for this kitchen here. B and Q, Wickes and an independent bloke. B and Q design in store, she put built in oven right next to the sink. Wickes, bloke came out... explained to him where the water main and stop cock was..he designed with a drawer unit there, which obviously wasn't possible. Independent bloke with his own company,my kitchen is open plan to the living room one end, the conservatory the other. He planned eye level ovens, nice idea, BUT opposite the sink. Told him that was incredibly dangerous, taking hot pans across the walkway, with small kids, animals. No worktop there, and that's the only place for the fridge freezer. We bought the units in Wickes,were going to get them to fit,we both had a long commute, mine just over 100 mile round trip. Luckily,we hadn't signed the paperwork, a few weeks later,DH came home from work, his company had liquidated on the spot! Locked down and no work,no money.! He had a breakdown...then fitted the kitchen himself..my DF had b and Q. Wasn't happy at all with the fitting. Ironically,our toilet refused to fill, again because of the long work hours and commuting,we had a recommended plumber just install the toilet,it was behind fitted cupboards and sink, and resin worktop. DH showed me yesterday how the bloke had cut the pipework, everything you couldn't see was bodged! Sorry,you can't borrow DH 🤣

Last time we had our kitchen done, we used a local chap who sourced everything himself from his chosen supplier (Howdens). That's how he worked as he wanted to be able to go to them and sorted something out immediately if something was missing or damaged as he knew they'd deal with it and he could complete the job on time. He was able to do everything except the electrics and he arranged for an electrician he regularly used. We were pleased with our Howdens kitchen in our old house and actually have one in our current house which we understand from a neighbour is 20 odd years old - fronts are still good, but hinges a bit rusty now and some of the caresses are badly marked inside due to wear and tear but still looks better than one our friends had installed in 2010.

From our experience, I'd avoid Wickes at all costs. They were going to do our bathroom, had so much messing around, unnecessary appointments as they'd messed up and delays, and as a last straw their installer resigned - he told us as he didn't trust them to and told us it was due to mismanagement. We left it and he was right, they didn't tell us. Anyway, we've got an independent chap fitting next week and so far the process has been a lot easier. It took Wickes three weeks to complete a standard bathroom for my friend and they weren't pleased with the finish - couldn't get Wickes back. Look at reviews

If you have a tradesman you trust or can get one recommended then that's the way to go.
you have no idea of the quality of the installation workmanship wicked/wren etc will supply. I've heard some horror stories from friends.

again avoid wren for units too, we bought a middle level wren kitchen 4 years ago, it's chipped all over, really bad quality

Many thanks for the replies so far. All make interesting reading!

Check out DIY kitchens. Not to be confused with B&Q.
Amazing price and quality and come out top on recent comparison sites.
Units come fully built and there is an on line planner for you to design yourself, or you can use a kitchen planner.
I have used them for my last 3 houses and never had any issues with quality.
Some fitters will insist on Howden kitchens as they get a discount which they may or may not pass onto you. Most Howdens stores will price match DIY but be careful they are offering a like for like kitchen.
Showrooms in Oxford or Yorkshire. I bought mine without visiting the showrooms. You can order sample doors.

Buy units from DIY kitchens and then get a local fitter to fit it for you.

It will save you thousands of pounds buying from DIY kitchens rather than one of the big names AND they are much better quality.

Also you don’t get any of the sales BS from
DIY kitchens - over inflated prices, fake discounts etc. With DIY kitchens the price is the price.

Find a local tradesman who is willing to project manage it for you; question whether he has all the contacts you need - joiner, electrician, plumber, tiler/ flooring, painter/ decorator. Get references from friends.

I have done it both ways, and ime the big companies really don’t care that much. They will employ contract tradesman who are not paid extra if the job needs it and may not be so willing/ able to do the extra needed.

We're in the process of getting quotes and are going down the line of a local tradesman rather than Wren et al after my mum and our neighbours had absolute nightmares with Wren.

We've had two separate local guys round for quotes and both clearly know what they're doing and have the contacts for building work, electrics, plumbing etc and both have been in the business over 30 years so hopefully this route will be the best way! Just have to decide which one to go with. Rough quotes so far are very similar!

Mixed results. I know wren have a bad name, one of my neighbours had a kitchen fitted by them and is very happy with the result...I haven't seen it. The only thing we had anyone else do with the kitchen,was extra wiring and consumer unit for 2 ovens and induction hob. He came highly recommended,he made a huge mess of our walls, huge Channels for the wiring and actually put a screw through the hall wall into our bedroom, and again a recommended carpenter to help with the worktops which were big and heavy,to mitre the corner..