Welsh Enterprise Awards 2020

17 | Welsh Enterprise Awards 2020 Nov20220 Best Kitchen & Bathroom Design & Retail Business - West Wales Kitchen and bathroom specialist, Uplands Kitchens, is based in the City centre of Swansea. The showroom displays full-sized kitchens, including appliances, to allow customers to visualise, and touch, their chosen style and see how it would look in their own home. Coupled together with state-of-the-art 3D-design software, and a freshly ground coffee, customers can browse at ease during their design presentation - with no hard sales’ pitch involved. “Our aim is to become the go to place in Swansea and West wales for the best in kitchen design and great quality products,” enthuses owner, Dale Spittle. Uplands Kitchens began life with Dale fitting kitchens and bathrooms, something he did for more than 20 years, gaining vast experience in the field, but also becoming increasingly frustrated by the lack of quality manufacturers and suppliers on the market. After carrying out a lot of research, and travelling across Britain, Italy and Germany in pursuit of quality products, Dale finally established Uplands Kitchens in 2018. Since then, it has gone from strength-to-strength, becoming the regional KBB Mystery Shopper Winner in September 2019 and having been shortlisted for a customer service award in 2020. Now, Uplands Kitchens has firmly established itself as the only independent kitchen retailer in Swansea which offers finance, as well as the only kitchen retailer in the region offering British, Italian and German handmade items. When it comes to staying ahead of the curve, Dale believes that being predominantly German and Italian kitchen retailers means that Uplands Kitchens is way ahead when it comes to style, colours and textures, as well as innovative products. “Included in our unique range are three-sided drawer systems and 11-degree angle cabinets, which no other kitchen company provides,” he explains. As the City of Swansea is currently going through a stage of development, which is hoped will bring investment into the city, this should inject money into the local economy, which will increase demand for better quality housing or refurbishment. This is a positive sign for Uplands Kitchens and the company is increasingly being asked to quote on developments of quality apartments and houses within the region and beyond. Dale loves living in Swansea and strongly believes in giving back to the community as much as possible, including donating Easter eggs and Christmas gifts to local charitable causes. Lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic was no exception and saw Dale volunteering to help build one of the local pop-up Nightingale hospitals, working for 12 hours a day, six days a week, for six weeks. “My instinct was to help in a way I could utilise my skills to benefit the community and to support the community which, in turn, has supported my business,” he says. Moving forward, the future looks very bright for Dale and the team at Uplands Kitchens as the firm has already expanded, adding another designer to the staff base, and has plans to replace several of the kitchen displays with updated versions, as well as introducing new products too. A new bathroom section will have pride of place in the showroom and, if business continues as it has done so far, there are plans for a move to larger premises in 2024. “Our emphasis always has, and always will be, quality before profit. And this is something which will continue into the future.” Company: Uplands Kitchens Contact: Dale Spittle Web Address: www.uplandskitchens.co.uk Staying ahead of the curve is the name of the game at Uplands Kitchens and Bathrooms and owner, Dale, tells us more about what makes his firm stand out from the competition.