Learning the lessons from losing a kitchen contract
“A loss does more to make me a better lawyer than any win could ever hope to do”. Matt Brown, a defence attorney in the USA. OK, as an opening line to a blog about a change we’ve made to our kitchen website, that quote might, at first glance, appear random! Visitors to our website, […]
What’s the difference between good and great kitchen design?
At Nicholas Hythe we believe great design marries the beautiful and the practical to create the perfect dream kitchen for a client. It’s not all about the look (important as that is) but it’s about individual requirements, practicality and ergonomics. On top of that, and perhaps most importantly, we listen intently to a potential client’s […]
So, what does make Nicholas Hythe Kitchen Design Studio different?
In a competitive market such as the new fitted kitchens one in which we operate, there’s one question asked by virtually every potential client. It can be asked outright or very subtly but the pretext is the same: “why should we use Nicholas Hythe Kitchen Design Studio?” And it’s a good question because each time […]
What you secretly need to know when buying a new kitchen!
Everybody we speak to about what we do, friends, neighbours, clients, everybody reading this blog will have experienced or heard about the kitchen company from hell. Stories about poor fits, leaky plumbing – you name it we’ve probably heard it. And despite the fact that often all we can do is sympathise, such stories are […]
How much should you spend updating your kitchen?
The number eight. At first, it appears to be an unassuming number – until you realise the importance of it to the entire world around us. It’s the number that ensures that we humans exist (it’s the atomic number of oxygen and the number of known B vitamins); it can be a force for good […]
The death of the superstore
There’s been a lot of talk recently about the ‘death of the High Street’ caused, in part, by the growth of out of town shopping centres and large format retailers. For as long as I’ve been working there seems to have been an exponential growth of large format retailers such as the supermarkets, DIY sheds, […]
Kitchen suppliers and retailers working together to fight the economic gloom
Owing to the many years Bill, my brother, co-owner and fount of all knowledge about kitchens, has spent working in the kitchen industry, he’s developed many contacts with suppliers who look to him for information and analysis about what customer trends are happening and how they can grow their own businesess in line with the […]
My kitchen epiphany
Attending a business networking meeting recently the attendees were asked how many wrote blogs? Proudly I put up my hand and, of the few of us who had, I was asked why. Good question! Before being asked it I would have immediately answered ‘it helps with search engine rankings’. Whilst true (it can help but […]
Architects and house builders should design houses their customers want
The ongoing debate about the lack of available, affordable housing continues with the Royal Institute of British Architects claiming that new houses are‘shameful shoebox homes’ because the average size is 8% smaller than the recommended minimum . Predictably, the House Builders Federation has responded by saying that larger homes would be even more unaffordable for buyers […]
Lessons the low cost airlines could learn from fitted kitchen retailers
I read with interest that the perennial news story about credit and debit charges levied by businesses and, in particular the low cost airlines, has resurfaced as the OFT’s consultation on the issue comes to an end. This isn’t the first time that the airlines have been criticised for their lack of transparency and fairness in […]