City Link and Kitchen Craft’s partnership reaps dividends

Kitchen Craft supplies kitchen ware and table ware from cupcake stands to jam pans and cooks’ blowtorches to around 2,000 customers and prides itself on providing exceptional service.

Indeed it has won the Best Service Award in Progressive Housewares magazine for 10 years in succession, and for 11 of the 12 years the competition has been running.

A vital part of its service is logistics and City Link has worked in partnership with Kitchen Craft for many years to deliver to the many independent shops across the UK which Kitchen Craft supplies.

"We want to delight our customers and constantly look at ways to improve upon our service to them." said Tony Elliot, General Manager of Kitchen Craft, based at Garretts Green, Birmingham.

"All of our suppliers are important but carriers perform a vital element of our service. I don’t think of City Link as a supplier, I think of them more as an extension of our business. I think they do a great job."

In the past Kitchen Craft employed its own fleet of delivery vans but now values the greater geographic reach, responsiveness and flexibility which a carrier such as City Link can provide, with its extensive network across the UK.

"City Link has definitely helped us to grow our business by providing Kitchen Craft with a consistently high level of service in all areas of the UK."

"I do believe that all these awards would not have been possible without us having a successful supply chain, and for that you have to work together as a team."

Kitchen Craft has also opted to use My City Link, the new service that allows City Link customers to see exactly where their consignments are in the carrier’s network, from any computer anywhere that is linked to the internet.

Kitchen Craft is currently working with City Link to take this service even further so that Kitchen Craft’s customers can see the latest information about their consignments when they log in to Kitchen Craft’s own website.

"My City Link is useful as it provides valuable information which Kitchen Craft can pass on to our customers."

"We aim to deliver the same levels of service from January to December, no matter how busy we become. We are conscious that our customers expect accurate delivery, swift dispatch and delivery in a timely fashion. I think this is something City Link has been able to provide over recent times and has helped Kitchen Craft achieve the high standards expected by its customers."

Established in 1850 as a hardware retailer, Kitchen Craft is now one of the largest kitchenware companies in the UK, stocking more than 3,500 kitchen, dining and houseware items.