Southport firm has work displayed at Grand Designs Live

An award-winning kitchen design business in Southport has enjoyed seeing its work celebrated at the Grand Designs Live show in Birmingham.

Birkdale Kitchen Co. based in Birkdale Village, was invited to create a special kitchen, pantry and preparation room inside The Grand House at the event as Grand Designs celebrated its 25th birthday.

Owners Neil Gokcen and Stephen Dunne were delighted to meet Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud along with thousands of visitors to the prestigious five-day event.

Birkdale Kitchen Co. received their latest accolade when they were named on Tuesday (15th October 2024) as a Finalist in the Kitchen Retailer of the Year category at the prestigious KBBFocus Awards 2024.

Birkdale Kitchen Co. Director Neil Gokcen said:

“We’ve had an amazing few days at Grand Designs Live, showcasing our kitchen design in the Grand House.

“It’s been fantastic to see so many people come through and appreciate what we’ve created.

“A real highlight was giving Kevin McCloud a tour of our set-up and having a great conversation with him about all things design, and what’s next for the kitchen industry.

“It was a pleasure to chat with someone who shares our passion for thoughtful, high-quality design.”

It’s an initiative that has been months in the making.

Award-winning Birkdale Kitchen Co. in Southport has enjoyed seeing its work celebrated at the Grand Designs Live show in Birmingham. Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud

Neil said:

“In February I received a phone call out of the blue from someone at Grand Designs.

“They were saying that The Grand Designs TV show was 25 years old this year and that they were building a special house at the NEC in Birmingham to celebrate.

“They said they had been tracking our progress for some time and would like us to be their kitchen partner in the Grand House.

“It was a no-brainer for us to take up an offer like that! It was such an exciting opportunity.

“We spent some time with our team and our partners to come up with a design and create something really special in terms of design for the event.

“The show went really well. We really enjoyed our time there.

“We were delighted to meet Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud, who came over to see us and take a look at the kitchen we had installed. He was really impressed, he loved our ‘secret door’ feature and other aspects.

“It was a fantastic show to be a part of. It was a really professional event and it was great to meet all the visitors who came.

“We made lots of good connections while we were there.

“The Grand Designs organisers said it was the best kitchen they had seen at the show.

“They are really keen for us to work with them again next year.”

It has been another busy year for Birkdale Kitchen Co, which has won a wide array of awards including national Kitchen Retailer of the Year since it was opened by Neil Gokcen and Stephen Dunne on 12th April 2021.

Customer demand has grown year on year with Neil and Stephen reacting to customer demand.

Neil said:

“Things are really busy! We are getting lots of inquiries from people.

“Due to the number of people asking us, we are now designing other rooms in homes too, including bedrooms, home offices and the like.

“Kitchens are still very much our bread and butter, but we are always happy to have a conversation to see what solutions we can find for any of our customers.”

Birkdale Kitchen Co. combines top quality kitchen design with the very latest technology to create award winning kitchens which have everything for modern living.

Birkdale Kitchen Co is situated at 38 Weld Road, Birkdale, Southport, PR8 2ED.