VS Series
Wren Kitchens v Howdens
Showroom against trade counter: two ways to sell a kitchen
Howdens leads on 4 of the five measures that matter most: turnover, pre-tax profit, profit margin, growth and net assets. Howdens is the biggest by turnover at £2,418m, against £1,005m at Wren Kitchens. Howdens keeps more of every £100 it takes, £14.26 as pre-tax profit.
The year ends are close enough to compare like for like. Howdens files group accounts that include subsidiaries; Wren Kitchens files for a single company, which flatters the group on size.
Accounts compared: Wren Kitchens to Dec 2025 · Howdens to Dec 2025
Who they are
Wren Kitchens
Wren Kitchens Limited · 06799478Wren Kitchens is a kitchen retailer that designs, makes and sells fitted kitchens and bedrooms.In brief: fitted kitchens and bedrooms · made in its own UK factories · Barton-upon-Humber · showroom networkFull profile →Howdens
Howden Joinery Group PLC · 02128710Howdens supplies fitted kitchens, joinery and related products to builders and tradespeople, selling from a network of local depots rather than to the general public.In brief: trade-only kitchen supplier · local depots · makes its own cabinets · listedFull profile →The Numbers
| # | Company | Turnover | Change | Pre-tax profit | Margin | Employees | Pay per head | Turnover per head | Net assets | Bank and cash | Accounts to | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | HowdensHowden Joinery Group PLC | £2,418m | +4.1% | £345m | 14.3% | n/d | n/d | n/d | £1,191m | £345m | Dec 2025 | Group |
| 2 | Wren KitchensWren Kitchens Limited | £1,005m | +9.5% | £105m | 10.5% | 6,340 | £44,000 | £159,000 | £317m | £24m | Dec 2025 | Single company |
Ranked by turnover. Click any column to sort. The leader on each measure is highlighted. Movements are against each company's own prior year. Pre-tax profit is filed except where marked (est.).
Category winners
Biggest by turnover
Howdens
£2,418m
Most pre-tax profit
Howdens
£345m
Highest profit margin
Howdens
14.3%
Fastest-growing turnover
Wren Kitchens
+9.5%
Biggest employer
Wren Kitchens
6,340 staff
Highest pay per head
Wren Kitchens
£44,000
Most turnover per head
Wren Kitchens
£159,000
Largest net assets
Howdens
£1,191m
Most cash
Howdens
£345m
The Takeaway
- Howdens converts the most of its turnover. Of every £100, £14.26 reaches pre-tax profit, against £10.46 at Wren Kitchens.
- Howdens is the largest on the top line, £2,418m of turnover, 2.4x Wren Kitchens's £1,005m.
- Wren Kitchens is growing fastest, turnover +9.5% on its own prior year.
- Wren Kitchens is the biggest employer with 6,340 people; Wren Kitchens pays the most per head, an average staff cost of about £44,000.
- Howdens has the largest balance sheet, net assets of £1,191m.
Who keeps the most of every £100 of sales?
Howdens keeps the most: £14.26 of every £100 of turnover becomes pre-tax profit. Wren Kitchens keeps the least, £10.46.
Every profit figure here is the one the company filed.
The chart splits each company's turnover into £100: what goes on people, on interest and on everything else, and what is left as profit.
Out of every £100 of turnover
Each column is £100 of that company's own turnover, so companies of any size compare on one scale; the figures are pounds out of each £100, not millions. Companies run from the best margin to the worst. Payroll is staff costs, financing is interest paid, other running costs are everything else, and profit is pre-tax profit, filed or estimated as marked in the table. A loss is not an extra cost: it is the part of the costs that runs past the £100 line, marked with a red bracket. Hover over any segment for its figure.
Who is the biggest, and does the comparison hold?
By turnover the order is Howdens (£2,418m), Wren Kitchens (£1,005m).
By headcount, Wren Kitchens leads with 6,340 employees.
The accounting periods all end in the same month. The bases differ: group accounts include the businesses a company owns, single-company accounts do not.
Turnover on the latest filing
Who is growing fastest?
Wren Kitchens grew fastest, turnover +9.5% on its own prior year, ahead of Howdens (+4.1%).
Turnover change on each company's own prior year
Who employs the most, who pays the most, and who brings in the most per head?
Wren Kitchens employs the most, 6,340 people.
Wren Kitchens has the highest average staff cost, about £44,000 a head.
Wren Kitchens brings in the most turnover per employee, about £159,000. It says as much about the business model as the workforce: a marketplace or a wholesaler needs far fewer people per pound than a restaurant or a gym.
Who owns each one?
Ownership as recorded on the Companies House register of people with significant control, in the bands the register uses.
Held by The Wren Group Limited
A company recorded as a person with significant control. 2 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns Wren Kitchens →
Howden Joinery Group PLC · 02128710Owned by its shareholders
Listed on the London Stock Exchange, so no single controller appears on the register.
Who owns Howdens →
What does the full ledger show?
| Measure | Wren Kitchens | Howdens |
|---|---|---|
| Registered name | WREN KITCHENS LIMITED | HOWDEN JOINERY GROUP PLC |
| Company number | 06799478 | 02128710 |
| Incorporated | 2009 | 1987 |
| Accounts filed | 18 April 2026 | 4 June 2026 |
| Turnover, prior year | £918m | £2,322m |
| Pre-tax profit, prior year | £69m | £328m |
| Staff costs | £277m | n/d |
| Payroll share of turnover | 27.6% | n/d |
| Employees, prior year | 6,469 | 12,607 |
| Dividends paid | £30m | n/d |
| Charges outstanding | 2 | 0 |
A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d; a zero in a filing is treated as not disclosed. Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, above that to the nearest million.
Wren Kitchens v Howdens: common questions
Who is the biggest of Wren Kitchens or Howdens?
Howdens, with turnover of £2,418m in the year to December 2025.
Which makes the most profit?
Howdens: £345m pre-tax in the year to December 2025.
Which employs the most people?
Wren Kitchens, with 6,340 employees in its latest accounts.
Wren Kitchens or Howdens: which is bigger?
Howdens, with turnover of £2,418m against £1,005m at Wren Kitchens on their latest filings. On margin, Howdens keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit. The full head to head is in the VS Series. Read the VS page →
Where do these figures come from?
Each company's latest accounts filed at Companies House. Each links to its full Spark Intel profile, which names the filing it comes from.