SJB vs Howdens: What’s the Real Difference?

Let me start by saying something that might sound strange coming from a trade kitchen supplier: Howdens isn’t bad.

Their kitchens are decent. Their depots are convenient. Their lead times are generally reliable. If you’re a kitchen fitter who’s been using them for years and the system works for you, I’m not here to tell you you’re wrong.

But there’s a lot that doesn’t get talked about when it comes to Howdens. The pricing model is deliberately opaque. The “trade discount” system is designed to make you feel like you’re getting a deal without necessarily giving you one. And for homeowners who’ve been told by their fitter to “just use Howdens,” there’s a whole conversation that never happens about what else is available and what it actually costs.

I’ve been in this industry for over 20 years. I set up SJB Trade Kitchens in Oldham because I thought there was a better way to do it. So let me give you an honest comparison — not a sales pitch, just the facts as I see them.

How Howdens Actually Works

Howdens operates on a trade-only model. You can’t walk in off the street as a homeowner and buy a kitchen — you need a trade account, which means you need a builder or fitter to buy on your behalf. In theory, this keeps prices low by cutting out the retail markup. In practice, it creates a layer of complexity that doesn’t always work in the customer’s favour.

Here’s how the pricing works. Howdens publish a list price for every product. They then offer trade account holders a discount off that list price — typically somewhere between 40% and 65% depending on how much you spend with them and how good a relationship you have with your local depot manager. The “list price” that the discount is applied to is not a price that anyone actually pays. It’s a reference number that exists to make the discount look impressive.

What this means in practice is that two different fitters buying the same kitchen from the same Howdens depot can pay very different prices. The price you get depends on your relationship with the depot, your account history, and frankly, how good you are at negotiating. It’s a system that rewards loyalty and volume — which is fine if you’re a high-volume fitter, but less great if you’re a homeowner trying to understand what your kitchen actually costs.

The Flat-Pack Question

Howdens kitchens are flat-pack. This is worth understanding because it has a direct impact on fitting costs.

A flat-pack kitchen arrives as a collection of panels, cam bolts, dowels, and instructions. Your fitter builds each carcass on site before they can start installing. For a typical kitchen, that can add a full day — sometimes more — to the fitting time. That’s a day of labour you’re paying for.

At SJB, our kitchens are rigid. The carcasses are built at the point of manufacture using 18mm Kronospan or Egger board, and they arrive ready to install. Your fitter puts them in — they don’t build them first. That time saving is real money. On a typical kitchen, you could save £300 to £600 in fitting costs just by choosing a rigid kitchen over a flat-pack one.

If you want to understand this in more detail, I’ve written a full breakdown in our post on rigid vs flat-pack kitchens. The short version is that rigid kitchens are stronger, faster to fit, and more dimensionally accurate. And at SJB, that’s what you get as standard — at no extra cost.

The Hardware Difference

Howdens fit their own branded hinges and drawer runners. They’re not bad — they’re functional and they do the job. But they’re not Blum.

At SJB, every kitchen comes with Blum soft-close hinges and Blum drawer boxes as standard. Blum is the hardware that premium kitchen manufacturers use. It’s the standard that the industry benchmarks against. The hinges are guaranteed for life and they work as well on day 3,000 as they did on day one. The drawer boxes are smooth, silent, and built to last.

This isn’t a minor detail. The hinges and drawer boxes are the parts of a kitchen you interact with every single day. If they’re not right, you notice. If they are right, you don’t — and that’s exactly how it should be. You can read more about why we chose Blum in our post on why Blum accessories are the gold standard for trade kitchens.

Made to Measure vs Standard Sizes

Howdens kitchens come in standard sizes. That means your fitter has to work with whatever combination of 300mm, 400mm, 500mm, and 600mm units gets closest to your room dimensions — and fill the gaps with filler panels. In most kitchens, that’s fine. In awkward rooms, it can be a compromise.

At SJB, our kitchens are made to order. We can make a carcass to any width you need, which means we can design a kitchen that fits your room properly rather than fitting your room around the kitchen. Fillers are still sometimes needed — no room is perfectly square — but they’re minimal rather than structural.

For builders and developers working on new builds or conversions across Greater Manchester, Oldham, Stockport, Bury, Bolton, Rochdale, and Tameside, this matters. Rooms aren’t always standard dimensions, and a kitchen that’s designed around the room looks better and fits better than one that’s been forced to fit.

What About the Price?

This is where it gets interesting. The common assumption is that Howdens is cheap because it’s trade-only. In my experience, that’s not always true — especially once you factor in everything.

A mid-range Howdens kitchen for a typical UK kitchen of 15 to 20 units, with their standard door range, will typically cost a trade account holder somewhere between £3,500 and £7,000 for the supply-only package — depending on the depot, the account, and the negotiation. That’s a wide range, and it’s deliberately wide, because the pricing is designed to be opaque.

A comparable kitchen from SJB — rigid construction, Kronospan or Egger board, Blum hardware, made to your exact measurements — will typically come in at a similar or lower price. And you’ll know exactly what you’re paying before you commit, because we don’t have a list price and a discount structure. We have a price. That’s it.

On top of that, the fitting cost saving from choosing a rigid kitchen over flat-pack can put another £300 to £600 back in your pocket. So the total cost comparison often looks more favourable for SJB than a straight unit-price comparison would suggest.

What Howdens Does Better

I said at the start that I’d give you an honest comparison, so here’s the honest part.

Howdens has depots everywhere. If you’re a kitchen fitter who needs to pick up a replacement unit at short notice, or you want to browse a physical display before committing, Howdens is very convenient. Their depot network is genuinely impressive and it’s one of the main reasons fitters stick with them.

Their range is also very wide. If you want a specific door style or colour that you’ve seen in a showroom, there’s a good chance Howdens have it or something very close to it. Their product catalogue is extensive.

And their credit terms for trade account holders are generally good. If you’re a fitter managing cash flow across multiple jobs, being able to buy now and pay later is a real practical benefit.

These are genuine advantages. I’m not dismissing them.

Who Should Use SJB Instead?

The honest answer is: not everyone. If you’re a high-volume kitchen fitter with a well-established Howdens account and a depot five minutes from your yard, there’s a reasonable argument for sticking with what works.

But if you’re a homeowner who’s been told to “just use Howdens” without anyone explaining the alternatives — SJB is worth a look. You’ll get a rigid kitchen, Blum hardware, made-to-measure sizing, and a direct relationship with the supplier. No middleman, no opaque pricing, no system designed to obscure what things cost.

If you’re a builder or developer doing multiple kitchens across a development — SJB is worth a serious look. Consistent pricing, consistent quality, 10-day lead times, and a supplier who picks up the phone. Open a trade account with us and let’s have a proper conversation about what we can do for you.

If you’re a kitchen fitter who’s frustrated with Howdens pricing or quality inconsistency — SJB is worth a look. We supply to fitters across the North West and beyond, and we’re always happy to talk through a project.

Come and See the Difference

The best way to understand the difference between SJB and Howdens isn’t to read a blog post — it’s to see the kitchens in person. We have a showroom in Manchester where you can see the door styles, feel the hardware, and have a proper conversation about what you need.

Or if you’d rather start with a quote, get in touch through our contact page, call us on 0161 509 4221, or email info@sjball.uk. Tell me what you’re working on and I’ll come back to you with a straight answer on what it’ll cost.

No list prices. No discount theatre. Just a proper quote for a proper kitchen.