MANUFACTURER Rixonway Kitchens, which supplies Britain’s affordable and social housing sector, has won a contract worth £1.2m to provide more than 70 kitchens a week to homes in Nottingham in a contract over the next two-and-a-half years.
The contract will see the Dewsbury-based kitchen manufacturer providing almost 10,000 complete kitchens to be installed by building contractors Wates, Bullocks and FHM.
The project will transform around 28,500 homes across the city as part of the Decent Homes programme, a Government scheme to ensure all social housing should be watertight and warm with reasonably modern facilities.
Nottingham City Homes is responsible for the day-to-day management of around 29,000 homes including services such as repairs, rent collection and tenancy management. It also looks after around 1,000 leasehold properties.
Paul Rose, chief executive of Rixonway, said: “We are delighted to be involved with such a significant refurbishment scheme.
“Within a week of signing the contract we were already delivering the kitchens to be fitted, we have gone the extra mile to provide our service quickly to ensure minimum disruption to Nottingham City Homes’ tenants.”
Mark Johnson, director of property services for Nottingham City Homes, said: “We have a multi-million pound programme to bring our properties up to Decent Homes standard, including modernising kitchens.
“Feedback from our tenants shows how much they appreciate the improvements we are making. And we are delighted to have entered into this partnership with Rixonway. They are involved in the process right from the start with our tenants, making sure they are happy with the layout of their new kitchen before it is handed over to our contractors to fit.”
As part of the contract, Rixonway’s dedicated design team will visit each home and talk to residents to understand their requirements before producing a full CAD design showing how the finished kitchen will look.
Earlier this month, the company completed its first export after shipping 200 flat-pack kitchens to a property developer in the Middle East.
Mr Rose told the Yorkshire Post that the order was “not huge but nevertheless significant for us”.
He added that Rixonway is in talks about supplying flat-pack kitchens for another 400 apartments in Dubai.
“This is the first step for us,” he said. The next step will be to visit Dubai and talk to more agents, added Mr Rose.
Rixonway Kitchens, which turns over £30m and employs nearly 500 people, has reported a surge in orders and its busiest-ever quarter as increasing new build developments fuel demand in the domestic market.
The private equity-backed business has seen its output increase by 25 per cent over the last month.
Rixonway has added an extra shift and taken on 14 new members of staff including five apprentices to help meet demand.
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