Premiere Kitchens has invested £3.25m in new manufacturing equipment for its Gloucester factory to give housing providers greater certainty across planned works, new-build and fast-moving void programmes.
For social landlords, manufacturing capacity matters most when it removes risk from a programme. A kitchen arriving late can hold up several trades, extend a void period and adding cost before a property is ready to let.
Premiere Kitchens has addressed that pressure with the first phase of a £5m, three-year investment programme. The £3.25m installation, officially opened by Julie Kent MBE, increases manufacturing capacity by 50–60%, without extending production hours.
At its heart are two Homag systems. A highly automated angle plant saw uses CNC software to control cutting patterns, dimensions, speeds and waste handling, combining high output with tight tolerances. The second is a 42-metre, four-sided edge bander that mills, pre-heats, edges and rotates each component in one continuous process.
Together, they can produce up to 12,000 components in an eight-hour shift.
“The point of investing at this scale is to give customers confidence,” says Andy Barham, Managing Director of Premiere Kitchens. “Housing providers need reliable call-off times, consistent quality and the capacity to respond when programmes change. This gives us more headroom while improving the product coming off the line.”
That capacity supports call-offs of five to ten days, backed by Premiere’s own delivery fleet. It is particularly valuable on void programmes, where every additional day has a direct cost, and on planned works, where missed dates can disrupt residents and installation teams.
The edge-banding process has an equally practical benefit. It produces a durable, impact resistant, radiused finish for cabinet components, doors and drawer fronts, reducing points of failure in demanding housing environments. Manufactured component parts carry a 20-year warranty. Across Premiere’s lifecycle offer, products are supported by 25-year warranty, lifetime cover on hinges and drawer boxes, and FIRA Gold Level H accreditation.
Kitchens leave the factory fully assembled. That brings factory-controlled quality onto site, cuts snagging and callbacks, and makes installation up to twice as fast as competing systems. For landlords, the gains are lower installation costs, shorter disruption in occupied homes and quicker void turnaround.
Premiere has spent more than 36 years delivering social housing planned programmes. That experience also shapes the resident offer: a wide choice of finishes supports tenant satisfaction without compromising the repeatability needed for volume procurement. Its bespoke property portal gives client teams 24/7 access to order management and records that support ongoing property care.
Premiere’s factory is committed to sustainable manufacturing, with a 1MW rooftop solar array supplying approximately one third of their energy requirements, while the remainder is supplied from renewable sources. PIR-controlled LED lighting further reduces energy consumption, and their zero-waste-to-landfill policy helps minimise their environmental impact.
This operational approach sits alongside local employment, community engagement, donations, and recycling initiatives, providing procurement teams with evidence for the social value sections of tenders, rather than a set of general promises.
“We have specialised in social housing since 1989 because refurbishment, voids and affordable new build demand flexibility and long-term commitment,” says Barham. “This investment means we can meet growing demand while protecting the quality, service and programme certainty customers expect.”
Housing providers reviewing kitchen specifications, upcoming frameworks or delivery capacity can contact Premiere Kitchens at premierekitchens.co.uk.
Image © Premiere Kitchens
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