Howden Joinery Group plc is the multinational parent company for the Howdens Joinery business (Howdens) based in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England. It is a supplier of kitchens and joinery products to the building trade. It is listed on the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St P ...

, and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

History

The brand was adopted and developed by Matthew Ingle as a business unit within MFI Furniture Group plc (MFI) in 1995. It started trading with 14 depots. In October 2006, MFI sold its loss-making MFI retail business to Merchant Equity Partners for £1, whilst retaining Howdens. At the same time, the name of MFI was changed to Galiform plc. In 2007, Howdens' own appliance brand, Lamona, was launched. In November 2008, the MFI retail business entered administration, and Galiform became liable for the costs associated with 46 MFI stores (the legacy properties), incurring an exceptional charge of £99.7m. However, by December 2012 the legacy properties had been reduced by over 80%. In September 2010, Galiform changed its name to Howden Joinery Group plc. Howdens was granted a Royal Warrant as a Supplier of Fitted Kitchens by Appointment to Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

in January 2015, and was chosen as one of ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

'' ''25 Best Big Companies to Work For'' in 2020. In July 2017, the company announced the retirement of Matthew Ingle, after twenty two years at the company, and the appointment Andrew Livingston who joined as chief executive in January 2018. In September 2019, Howdens refreshed the creative execution of the brand – with a new logo and the removal of "Joinery" from the brand mark. The brand was listed as a ''Business Superbrand'' in September 2019.

Operations

The company has 808 depots nationwide, that sell to the trade (small builders). It also trades as Howdens Cuisines from 60 depots in France and Belgium. Howdens sells kitchens (including worktops, flooring, appliances, sinks, taps and lighting), joinery, hardware, tools, and bathroom cabinetry. It offers a free home survey and planning service. The company manufactures its cabinets, laminate worktops and breakfast bars in

Howden Howden () is a market and minster town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Vale of York to the north of the M62, on the A614 road about south-east of York and north of Goole, which lies across the ...

, East Yorkshire and

Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and cargo port in the Borough of Halton in Cheshire, England. Its population in 2011 was 61,789. The town is in the southeast of the Liverpool City Region, with Liverpool to the northwest across the River Mersey. ...

, Cheshire. All products manufactured by Howdens hold the FSC chain of custody certification.

References

{{Authority control British companies established in 1995 Manufacturing companies established in 1995 Manufacturing companies based in London Companies based in the City of Westminster Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange