Magnet tells LABM how flexible logistics, people-led delivery and long-term thinking offers the right combination for social housing kitchen refurbishments.
When budgets are tight and when kitchens reach the end of their lifespan, the difference between an average upgrade and a truly cost-effective refurbishment comes down to strategy. “A one-size-fits-all supply chain simply won’t cut it anymore,” says Chris McManus, B2B Director at Magnet. “We give housing providers, contractors and merchant partners several options to take supply, direct from our Darlington factory, via a regional hub, or collection from one of our nationwide branches, so they can choose the route that saves them the most time and money.”
That flexibility is already paying off. On a recent void property programme for a London borough, the contractor shifted to collecting kitchens from their nearest Magnet branch, shaving about five days off every turnaround and getting each home rent-ready, with a fit-for-purpose kitchen, almost immediately. Meanwhile, Magnet’s bulk factory drops keep costs low and hub stores deliver a steady flow of product for planned maintenance. “Pick the model that fits the project, and suddenly kitchens arrive on site exactly when the fitters do,” Chris says. “That’s the key to smarter planning.”
Yet supply logistics are only half the battle. Magnet’s projects division assigns a surveyor to oversee every scheme from first survey to final sign-off, drawing on a team whose sole focus is social housing providers. Using laptop-based CAD software, the surveyor designs the kitchen and incorporates the tenants’ needs, places orders, books timed deliveries and chases any remedials, freeing installers to do what they do best: fit. The result, Chris says, is visibility: “When contract managers know precisely where each kitchen is in the pipeline, hidden costs and nasty surprises disappear.”
Long-term partners such as Plus Dane in Merseyside have seen the benefits first-hand. For more than a decade, Magnet has designed and supplied around 500 kitchens a year to Plus Dane via its Aintree hub, keeping installation times controlled and disruption to residents to a minimum. “Magnet consistently hit the sweet spot of price, quality and service,” says Lee Franey, Planned Maintenance Manager at Plus Dane. “Their team partners with us to create resident-focused specifications, then delivers promptly and reliably, keeping our fitters moving and our programme on track. That consistency has been key to our refurbishment success, and we look forward to building on it.”
Social value
Delivering social value alongside financial value is equally non-negotiable for today’s procurement teams. Magnet sets aside budget and colleague time for community projects wherever they’re working. A donated kitchen helped rescue the Keith Thompson Centre in Keighley from closure, while a fully fitted kitchen at Butterwick Hospice in Bishop Auckland, installed with the help of local apprentices, created a welcoming space for patients and invaluable hands-on experience for young people. “When we leave a project, we want the community to be stronger than when we arrived,” Chris explains. “That lets landlords hit their social value targets without extra admin.”
Sustainable specification
Sustainability completes the smarter-refurb triangle. Magnet’s cabinets have carried the FIRA Gold quality certification for over 30 years, use FSC-certified timber with up to 79% recycled content, and are built in factories powered by 100% renewable electricity. Since 2016, operational carbon is down 75%, and every scrap of manufacturing waste is recycled — sawdust becomes livestock bedding, chipboard off-cuts return as furniture. “A refurb only pays if the kitchen lasts and the carbon maths stacks up,”Chris says. “We’ve done the homework so clients don’t inherit tomorrow’s retrofit headache.”
Right combination
Chris calls this combination of flexible logistics, people-led delivery and long-term thinking a “B2B revolution.” By uniting Magnet Projects, Commodore Kitchens and seven decades of contract know-how under one roof, our business can service everything from inner-city high-rises to rural voids without forcing landlords to compromise on price, quality or speed.
His closing advice to asset managers planning 2026 programmes is simple: engage early. “Tell us your KPIs and stock profile up front, and we’ll design your supply chain around them,” Chris says. “When the right kitchen lands on the doorstep first time, the numbers take care of themselves, and residents get a home they’re proud of.”
