Harvey Jones CEO Susie Townsend on building back towards a profitable business

A: For nearly 50 years Harvey Jones has been designing and beautifully crafting bespoke kitchens. Our team of talented designers bring our clients vision for their kitchens and homes to life ensuring meticulous attention to the details and transforming the client's space both aesthetically and functionally. That blend of design expertise, craftmanship and individuality within every project ensures our clients a unique experience with the scale and consistency of working with a trusted leading national brand. 

 

At the heart of our brand, our team; they are an absolute privilege to lead. Full of personality, hardworking, and knowledgeable and committed to making a difference every day, they really care. It makes Harvey Jones a great place to work, and that passion naturally translates to our clients in everything we do.               

A: It's an exciting time for us as we invest in and evolve our approach to meet the everchanging consumer landscape. As the majority of our client journeys start with research, our digital channels are beginning to bring our products and services to life, visually inspiring, sharing our expertise and demonstrating the bespoke opportunities when working with our brand. That engagement is a prelude and now mirrored in the showroom or at home experience; we are a year into an extensive refit programme which included new sites and sees 2025 with an additional six showrooms completed. It continues to be an ambitious programme and there's always a curve ball – a car driving into the Tunbridge Wells showroom wasn't on the plan, but we are driven to provide our clients with an elevated experience from research to installation.         

A: Our showrooms are designed to showcase our craftmanship, highlight innovations, spark ideas and with thoughtful curation and product breadth guide the client through the exciting options that create their bespoke design. Led by the experienced showroom teams it should feel engaging, informative, inspiring and personal. Our showrooms also demonstrate our exceptional supplier partners and the category expertise and cutting-edge technology they deliver. From handpicking exclusive stone in Italy with the NSS team to 1.1 training with the Bora and F&P, these important designer collaborations of ideas and choices deliver clients confidence in their design.      

 

A: The key and challenge to scaling for us is firstly, to ensure we continue to focus and invest in our people, so our talented team expand and grow without the loss of any of our personality and individuality. We will then be able to continue to embrace the new and innovative, especially in areas such as AI and technology whilst protecting our hand craftsmanship and quality. We are a team that works at a phenomenal pace and who are not afraid to trial to enhance the client product offer and experience, but as we scale, we will need to ensure that we build new disciplines and an infrastructure that supports our growth ambitions without stifling our creativity.       

A: Harvey Jones kitchens truly are designed for life and built for living which is why our refurbishment service is such a growing and important part of our business and a live demonstration of our work to support sustainability. Whether a client has just purchased a home with an existing Harvey Jones kitchen, wants a colour change or to add new furniture to existing space or wants to expand around the home with a complementing utility, our ability to upgrade demonstrates our commitment to thoughtful, lasting design. We carefully selected partners who were accredited and sustainability focused and with them we can and will continue to challenge our teams to improve.          

 

A: It has been an exceptionally busy couple of years for me and the Harvey Jones team strengthening and re-establishing the brand whilst commercially building the performance back towards a sustainable profitable business. It's been challenging, a constant evolution and we have seen some incredible growth. However, it is just the beginning, as we will further invest and grow our nationwide showroom network, add digital innovation, build meaningful and long-term partnerships with our suppliers and innovate in all areas of our business. But ultimately Harvey Jones will continue to be recognised and celebrated for design excellence, craftsmanship and an exceptional client service.