News & Features

BRITONS are buying more upmarket kitchens, maker John Lewis of Hungerford said today as it returned to profit after a recession-struck year.

The company, which specialises in "fabulous British painted kitchens and furniture" and charges £1,295 for an oak-topped table, said its turnover for the year to September rose 31% to hit £5.35 million from [pounds sterling]4.08 million a year ago. It posted a pre-tax profit of £31,612, compared with a loss of £331,734 in 2009.

The AIM-listed kitchenmaker's chairman, Malcolm Hepworth, said that despite the challenging economic backdrop, it had been a year of significant progress for the business. He added that a new specialist installation service had helped contribute to the jump in sales.

"On the back of the stronger trading results, there are plans to continue with the ongoing refurbishment of existing showrooms, together with the introduction of new ranges," Hepworth said. "We will continue to consider further showroom openings in line with our growth strategy, although no further openings are currently planned."

John Lewis of Hungerford said its sales and order book looked healthy, with demand up 10% on last year.

The firm warned, however, that it was cautious about next year because of January's VAT increase.

Situated within a grade 11 listed building in the heart of the historic old town of Beaconsfield our latest showroom features a delightful selection of our wonderful kitchens and furniture. Special opening offers now on. Do come and see us.

The main centre of Blackheath - 'the village' - lies to the south side of the heath in the vicinity of the railway station and is home to numerous shops, restaurants and pubs. The sizeable prestigious private estate of Blackheath Park, created by John Cator and known as the Cator Estate, is situated east of Blackheath village. Built in the late 1700s and early 1800s, it contains many fine examples of substantial Georgian and Victorian houses - most notably Michael Searles' The Paragon crescent.

Our beautiful new showroom is situated at the top of Tranquil Vale on the right hand side, as you walk up the hill towards the heath.

Useful Link to House to Home site who suggest John Lewis of Hungerford as the professionals to give you the same look in your kitchen.

Every now and then a 'vital' new kitchen appliance comes along which changes the face of cooking. Trend-setters buy it, their friends see it and immediately want one, kitchen designers and chefs recommend it, newspapers and magazines review it and eventually it becomes a 'must have' in every kitchen...

The Quooker boiling water tap is one of those rare 'must haves'. This simple, ultra-safe idea immediately renders kettles out of date and takes kitchens a giant leap forward. Although it's new to the UK, over 100,000 kitchens in Europe already depend on their Quookers for instant boiling water.

And the applications are endless. Quooker users still come up with new ones. The most obvious one is making a cup of tea and the latest addition to the list is poaching fish. Of course you can also fill up a pasta pan, blanch vegetables, heat up plates and serving platters, make coffee, prepare baby formula, peel tomatoes, remove candle wax and much more. All done in a moment and with boiling water of 100°C! After all, only truly boiling water is good enough for the perfect cup of English tea which will be freshly made for you in our beautiful showrooms when you are having your kitchen designs and quotations prepared.

Described as 'preposterously perfect', the kichen is, in fact, a set based in a £1.45M house in North London.

The kitchen features painted units and floor, white wall tiles and a wooden topped central worktable. To 'get the look' G2 suggest buying one of our lovely 2 drawer worktables. And why not, they also happen to be on special offer!

John and his co driver friend Barry Hawgood will drive a 1968 Hillman Hunter which is a copy of the famous car that won the London to Sydney Marathon of 1968. They are going entirely on their own with no back up and so will take spare parts, tools and camping equipment with them.

John Lewis said "The Prostate Cancer Charity does a great job as it not only invests in research but also provides a confidential helpline staffed by specialist nurses and campaigns to raise awareness of the disease. Our target is to raise £75,000 and people have been very generous but we still have a long way to go!" If anyone would like to make a donation please visit our justgiving page

John and Barry are leaving from the famous Ace Cafe at Ace Corner on the Old North Circular Road at 2.30pm on Saturday 27th March. World famous rally driver Paddy Hopkirk, who took part in the original rally, will be there to flag them off. Everyone is welcome to come along.

Sir Stirling Moss added "events such as this really help to raise awareness and get people talking about the disease." He wished John and Barry the best of luck and said "I can only hope they do not attempt to go as fast as I know I would."

Our nostalgic Front Framed kitchen style takes pride of place on the ground floor where our sales designers will be happy to feed you with mince pies and Christmas fare during the snowy weather, while you decide which kitchen is just right for you.

View the Tunbridge Wells showroom page