Getting a new kitchen

I'm about to start looking for a new kitchen. Never done it before. I dont really want a flat packer DIY I want a company to come and do the whole lot. I could do it but i'm too busy at work and to be honest can't be bothered.
So I'm here asking where I should or should not be looking. And what your experiences are, good and bad.
Cheers.

Happy New Year!

Magnet are good- units come pre made, saving time building the bases units. You just attach doors/drawers. They are more expensive, but good quality- we were quoted £12,000 and kept saying no till they went down to £4000....a good time to buy too.

Oh, and Wickes and Ikea get good reviews for build quality too from Which.

Don't waste your money. Buy a new bike instead.

Howdens are the people that make most of the units for Magnet and such like, or certainly used to. I notice now though, they have their own site.

http://www.howdens.com/

You might be better off finding a joiner / kitchen installer and using their contacts to get trade prices and you paying for their labour!!

I have never ordered a turn-key project like this before, you see and hear of so many horror stories...but are they the exception. Good Luck, hope it all goes well

Edited: Just read the above, they do only supply to trade professionals, so get yourself a local carpenter / professional with a VAT account and you are away!

[tigersaw]

Any MFI's still open near you? Our one was seriously giving away the store demo kitchens, most less than £1k, the most expensive one with all neff and marble was £1.5k, hovever you have to remove and shift it yourself, then modify it to fit your own kitchen.

[timwilky]

ok having recently fitted a a new kitchen and done the shopping around.

Magnet/Howden etc. are major suppliers to the small fitters but I rejected them both as I wanted colour co-ordinated carcasses not white with disguise panels. I wanted decent backs and 18mm thick.

I ended up using a very local place, (1/4 mile away), I got first class service, one carcass was damaged and another was the wrong size, both replacements delivered within an hour of my phone call.

The wife went for a high gloss maple on maple carcass. A high gloss worktop with matching splashback, I had to fabricate a cover for the boiler, but got a matching door for that and the stairs cubby hole. In total the carcasses/doors/worktops/splashback etc cost me about £3,500 and well worth it.

My brother who fitts both magnet and howden on his jobs said "You haven't saved on what I can get them for you", my reply which was most shocking to him was. "I was not looking to save money, I wanted decent quality"