Countryside Kitchens

East of Scotland based Countryside Kitchens received two loans totalling £60,000 from Business Loans Scotland to open retail showrooms in Edinburgh and also launch manufacturing facility in Kelso to bring production in house.

Founded in 1980 by the Ponder family in Chirnside, Berwickshire, Countryside Kitchens are specialists in the design and installation of high end fitted kitchens and furniture. Now in their 44^th year of trading, the business has experienced some exciting changes in recent years including the opening of two brand new kitchen showrooms in Edinburgh and the ability to bring production of kitchen furniture in-house via their facility in Kelso.

Following the opening of their showroom in Morningside, Edinburgh at the end of 2019, Director of Countryside Kitchens Jerry Ponder noticed a significant increase in customer enquiries which in turn was resulting in an increased average order value and increased turnover. However, shortly after the business opened their brand new showroom, the pandemic hit and in 2020 all plans were abruptly put on hold.

During the lockdown in 2020, Jerry and the team made the decision to start producing the kitchen furniture from their own factory and after thoroughly researching the machinery and skills required to achieve this, the team identified suitable premises in Kelso. They reached out to Business Loans Scotland (BLS) for funding which would enable the business to put deposits down on the new machinery and following their application, a £30,000 loan was issued to support the business’ ambitions.

Supporting small and medium sized businesses across Scotland with loans to start-up or grow, BLS offer loans from £25,000 to £250,000 to ensure that commercially viable proposals do not fail from a lack of access to finance.

Fully funded by the Scottish Government, BLS has issued loans to 151 businesses across Scotland to date totalling in excess of £11.6 million with loans being used for various purposes including to raise working capital, invest in office premises, increase marketing activity and to introduce new product lines to name a few.

With normal business resuming after the pandemic, the decision was made to open a second showroom in Edinburgh, this time in the Inverleith area, which they hoped would produce similar results to that of their Morningside premises.

Reaching out to BLS for a second time in 2022, an additional loan of £30,000 was issued to support the business with the development of their new retail showroom in Inverleith which opened mid-2022.

With a team of 18 and lots of exciting plans in the pipeline, the team look forward to a busy and profitable 2023.

Speaking of the two loans issued, Director of Countryside Kitchens, Jerry Ponder said:

“In summary, our business has gone from strength to strength in recent years, due in no small part to the financial help we have received from Business Loans Scotland.”

Fund Manager for Business Loans Scotland, Andrew Dickson added:

“Throughout the Coronavirus pandemic we witnessed many businesses having to pause their expansion plans due to lack of finance. I am therefore delighted that during these challenging times we were still able to support Countryside Kitchens with a £30,000 loan to establish their manufacturing facility in Kelso in 2020 and in more recent times, support the business with an additional £30,000 to launch their new retail showroom in Inverleith. It’s fantastic to see the business flourishing and I wish Jerry and all the team at Countryside Kitchens continued success for the future.”