Häfele UK praises winners of Studio Partner Awards

Häfele UK has announced the winners of its sixth annual Studio Partner Awards and commended all shortlisted and winning entries for being “inspirational, resourceful and committed” over the last year.

The event, which celebrates innovative design, business excellence and customer experience within the manufacturer and distributor’s network of independent kitchen showrooms, took place on 23 June 2022 at the Cutty Sark, London.

The categories included Best Customer Service, Best Use of Digital Media, Best Showroom Experience, and the coveted Studio Partner of the Year Award. For the first time ever, Häfele also gave an award for the Best Functional Space Design. Celebrating ingenious functionality and space-saving solutions in response to a customer’s challenges, this award was judged by a panel that included architect and designer Laura Jane Clark, who stars in BBC’s Your Home Made Perfect and has partnered with Häfele UK on its Functional Spaces: Kitchens for Living campaign.

The winners:

• Häfele Representative of the Year: Kathryn Emsley
  • Kathryn was praised for supporting customers with great product knowledge, ability to recommend alternative products to meet the brief, and building meaningful relationships with customers.
• Best Customer Service: Kitchen Living
  • Kitchen Living won the award for approaching projects through the eyes of the customer and working with total transparency, particularly on timescales, even providing temporary appliances where lead times exceed expectations so customers always have a fully functional kitchen.
• Best Showroom Experience: HBC Kitchens
  • With a plethora of five star Google reviews, this family-owned business was praised for being inspiring, mesmerising and welcoming. HBC Kitchens has a beautifully designed showroom that met the criteria perfectly, with an impressive mix of product and style where customers can learn about the products they sell and feel confident in their choices.
• Best Use of Digital Media: Regal Kitchens
  • Regal Kitchens has a great multi-channel presence across digital platforms and makes the most of each digital channel to showcase and drive engagement around their business. On social media, this Studio Partner has utilised features such as events, FAQs, stories, highlights and videos. To help the customer build their confidence in this Studio Partner their website has a great structure, providing inspirational content, including galleries, videos, blogs and extra resources.
• Kitchen Design of the Year: Parlour Farm
  • Parlour Farm’s winning design included areas for specific activities, while still giving their customer the ultimate cooking and entertainment spaces, resulting in three cleverly interrelated zones. Full of storage solutions and high-performance appliances, the winning kitchen design also showcased some beautifully crafted design elements.
• Best Functional Space Design: Duncans of Grantown
  • Duncans of Grantown’s entry was a great example of maximising space and functionality using Häfele products. The business stood out as they really listened to what the customer needed during the brief. Even though this design was in a very tight space, the clever integration of all the elements meant that no requirement was omitted from the client brief, and additional touches were even added to create the wow factor. This was a great example of how weaving design and product expertise and knowledge innovatively together can maximise the daily functionality and enjoyment of a space.
• Studio Partner of the Year: Roma Interiors
  • Roma Interiors was commended for their commitment in growing and developing its business, with plans to expand into a larger premises as well as expand both its residential and commercial activity. The team is also keen to inspire the next generation, taking on a new recruit from a government kick start scheme. Roma is proactive in keeping on top of new products and trends and how these can benefit their customers. As well as having an attractive showroom, the business offers first rate customer service and delivers consistently strong designs. On top of that, the business is an active member of its local community.

“It was brilliant to have so many of our customers and employees all come together for the Studio Partner Awards in London and we’ve received so much positive feedback on the event,” said Gareth Bevan, Sales Director at Häfele UK. “What particularly stood out in this year’s entries is just how inspirational, resourceful and committed our Studio Partners have been over the last year. Despite challenging trading conditions, our Studio Partners have gone out of their way to deliver an exceptional level of support and service to their customers and the standard of entries was particularly high this year. Congratulations to all the winners and shortlisted candidates.”

Häfele Studio Partner programme is a network of independent kitchen studios, hand-selected based on their superb customer service, business excellence and growth. Companies in the programme receive extensive marketing and sales support, including lead generation plus discounts and training.

To find out more about joining, visit hafele.co.uk