Howdens has agreed to acquire online kitchen retailer DIY Kitchens in a £390m deal as it looks to expand its reach beyond trade customers.
The kitchen specialist has struck a deal to buy the Pontefract-based parent company of Ultima Furniture Systems, which trades as DIY Kitchens.
DIY Kitchens sells exclusively online and targets customers who want to self-manage the purchase, planning and ordering of their kitchen.
Howdens said the business has a “highly profitable and growing” model that is distinct from its own trade-only, full-service approach, giving the group direct access to non-trade consumers in the UK.
DIY Kitchens’ online platform offers self-service planning, design and ordering tools, while its model combines low selling overheads with made-to-order manufacturing and customer prepayment.
Following completion, the retailer will remain an online-only business focused on non-trade shoppers and will operate separately from Howdens’ larger trade-only business.
Howdens chief executive Andrew Livingston said: “Howdens’ highly successful trade-only model is built around supporting solely trade customers with outstanding in-stock availability, expert local depot teams, and an end-to-end service from design through to delivery.
“The acquisition of DIY Kitchens, which will be operated on a standalone basis, adds a complementary very profitable business to the group, providing access to non-trade end customers through its direct online channel with self-service planning, design and ordering tools.
“DIY Kitchens shares many of the characteristics that underpin Howdens’ success including well-invested manufacturing, strong vertical integration, scalable capabilities and a deep, well-embedded entrepreneurial culture.”
Livingston added: “We are excited to welcome the DIY Kitchens team to Howdens. We have great respect for the innovative business model they have built, and we look forward to supporting the business’s continued growth and investing behind its next phase of development.”
Founded by the Ellis family, DIY Kitchens traces its roots back to 1982 and now employs more than 550 people in the Wakefield and Leeds postcode area.
Howdens operates two main UK factories in Runcorn, Cheshire, and Howden, East Yorkshire.
The deal remains subject to customary regulatory approvals.
Click here to sign up to Retail Gazette‘s free daily email newsletter
