Wren, 10 years on

TEN YEARS ON AND GROWING FASTER THAN EVER...

When it comes to British manufacturing success stories, they don’t come much bigger than that of Wren Kitchens.

Currently celebrating its 10th anniversary, Wren Kitchens has been on quite a journey since it opened the doors of its first showroom 10 years ago. From one showroom to 80 (with many more on the way), from five employees to nearly 5,000, the growth has been unprecedented.

For example, there are 12 more showrooms set to open before the end of 2019 which are part of the company’s dynamic growth plan. Earlier this year Wren Kitchens made the national news headlines when it announced plans to open an additional manufacturing facility at its Barton-upon-Humber site in 2021 to keep up with growing demand.

The new factory, Wren’s fourth, will cost over £120 million and be the single biggest investment in the company’s history. At 990,000 sq ft, the factory will create up to 1,200 new manufacturing roles once fully operational, as well as support new positions in IT, development, engineering, customer service and product development.

Additionally, Wren has recently started to manufacture its own brand worktops – known as Xena Quartz – in a new dedicated high tech factory. This multimillion pound investment means customers have access to a highquality, more affordable quartz product with a quicker lead time. With a gap in the market for such a product, Wren is expecting production to be busy with up to 

16,000 Xena Quartz orders per year – or about 300 per week.

At present, Wren designs, manufactures and delivers 2,000 kitchens a week but with new showrooms and a mega factory in the pipeline, this number will rapidly increase. In 2019, Wren’s award-winning installation team currently number in excess of 1,100 installers but many more professionals are needed to keep up with its growth. Wren Kitchens is the only company to have been awarded FIRA Gold for both product and installation. That’s why the company only works with professional installers who share its values and commitment to customers - and there are plenty of advantages for installers who work with the Lincolnshire-based national company.

Wren showrooms are located across the UK from Aberdeen in the north to Eastbourne in the south, from Plymouth in west to Norwich in the east. Its installation service is available nationwide and jobs are offered within installers’ preferred locations.

All of the kitchen units in Wren’s Infinity and Infinity Plus collections are manufactured just in time in its own factories and delivered ready built for faster, simpler installation. Kitchens are delivered by Wren’s own delivery fleet and with a record of delivering 99.5% on time and

There are 12 more showrooms set to open before the end of 2019 which are part of the company’s dynamic growth plan.

In 2019, Wren’s award-winning installation team currently number in excess of 1,100 installers but many more professionals are needed to keep up with its growth.

in full, a Wren Approved Installer has peace of mind knowing that an installation can proceed on schedule with no hold-ups or time wasted.

Wren’s installation service is a ‘dry fit’, so the customer can choose their own contractor for any supplementary works that might be required. That means if the customer asks, and the installer is qualified to undertake the work required, installers can contract for any supplementary work directly with the customer.

Wren provides a complete project support system for installer. This includes Field Installation Managers who oversee projects to installers being provided with their own personal iPad and custom Wren app free of charge. The app, Chirp, includes an electronic diary which indicates an installer’s availability for installations and monitors the progress of each job. Wren also pays for BiKBBI Membership so installers don’t have to. Wren Approved Installers are CIS registered so the company can pay them promptly once a job is completed.

As one of BiKBBI’s Retail Partners, all of Wren’s approved kitchen installers are required to be BiKBBI members and need to demonstrate BiKBBI’s exacting requirements for installation quality and service. During the recruitment process, details of potential installers are forwarded to BiKBBI to check their database for any previous record of installer membership.

Any installer who is not a member of BiKBBI will be sent the documents they need to join before they can work with Wren. This process helps Wren to approve installers as in order to meet the requirements to become a member of BiKBBI, every installer has to complete DBS and compliance documentation.

For professional kitchen installers, this is an exciting time with lots of opportunities. As a fast-growing UK company, Wren Kitchens needs top quality installers to meet the demand generated by more showrooms and more customers choosing Wren to create, deliver and install their affordable luxury dream kitchens. It’s win-win-win - for Wren Kitchens, its customers and its Approved Installers.