Kitchen Cabinets from China: A UK Specification and Enquiry Guide
What to confirm before ordering kitchen cabinets from China for a UK project: real costs, specifications, quality checks and a simple enquiry pack.
Read the guideThe short answer: Hammonds is usually a little cheaper than Sharps on like-for-like specifications, and both sit 30–60% above a factory-direct import for the same materials. Sharps quotes a fitted bedroom from £2,000–£3,000 depending on which page of its website you read; Hammonds publishes package prices from £3,738.60 including delivery and installation; and buyer-reported quotes for both brands cluster between £2,600 and £8,000 per room. The more interesting story is how those prices are built — because with both brands, the first number you are quoted is rarely the number you should pay. This article compares all three routes with real 2026 figures.
How Sharps and Hammonds Price Their Wardrobes
Both are legitimate national companies — Sharps Bedrooms Limited (registered 2011, Companies House) and Hammonds Furniture Limited (registered 1977, Companies House) — and both use the same pricing architecture: a high list price, a permanent promotional discount, and a final number that depends on when and how you sign.
Sharps vs Hammonds vs factory-direct import — headline comparison, September 2026. Brand data from official websites; buyer-reported figures from forum threads (see Methodology). Import figures from our landed-cost breakdown.
| Sharps | Hammonds | Factory-direct import | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headline "from" price | £2,000 (FAQ) / £3,000 (2026 price guide) — the two official pages disagree | No single from-price; published packages from £3,738.60 incl. delivery & installation | Quotation only — priced by the room |
| Typical buyer-reported price per room | £2,600–£8,000 (up to £15,500 multi-room) | £2,800–£9,000 | 30–50% below national brands, equivalent spec |
| Current promotion | "Half Price Sale" + extra 20% off | 40% off selected finishes + free installation (ends 28 September 2026, min. order £1,500) | None — the price is the price |
| Pricing model | List price → negotiated discount | Package price → promotional discount | Itemised factory quote + itemised logistics |
| Fitting included? | Yes (design, manufacture, installation bundled) | Yes, explicitly on published packages | Arranged separately via UK fitting partners (£240–300/day) |
| Guarantee | 15 years, product & installation | 10 years (5 for StairSpace) | Varies by factory — check the contract |
| Order-to-installation | Survey within 21 days; install ~2 days on site; total 3–8 weeks reported | Dates "estimated"; rebooking enters a 4–6 week planning cycle | 8–12 weeks door-to-door, fixed at booking |
Three things stand out from that table. First, Sharps' own website carries two conflicting headline prices (£2,000 on the FAQ page, £3,000 on the 2026 cost guide) — a reminder that "from" prices are marketing anchors, not quotations. Second, Hammonds is the more transparent of the two on packages: its price guide lists complete room configurations with both the "was" price and the current price, delivery and installation included. Third, neither brand publishes a binding order-to-installation lead time — and the buyer-reported range (three weeks to seven months) is the widest of any route.
Hammonds' package ladder is worth a closer look, because it is the closest thing either brand offers to an honest price list. The entry Radley range runs £3,738.60 (Small) / £5,122.80 (Medium) / £6,564.00 (Large); the premium Cliveden range runs £5,443.80 / £7,440.00 / £9,493.20 — all including delivery and installation, all displayed against a struck-through "was" price. Two useful deductions: even Hammonds' entry package starts above £3,700, and the strike-through pricing tells you the discount structure is permanent, not seasonal.
What UK Buyers Actually Paid
Published prices tell half the story. The other half is what real buyers report paying after the discount dance. The figures below come from Mumsnet, PistonHeads and Reddit threads between 2012 and 2025 — self-reported, with varying specifications, so treat them as market texture rather than benchmarks.
Buyer-reported fitted wardrobe quotes, UK forums, 2012–2025. Specifications vary; "was → paid" figures show list price versus settled price where reported.
| Brand | Specification | Reported price | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sharps | 3 double wardrobes, hanging + drawers + shelves | £10,000 → £4,999 | Installation included; 50%+ negotiated off (2023) |
| Sharps | 4.5m, 7-door Shaker run | £8,000 | Fitting slot offered at 3 weeks (2024) |
| Sharps | Wide alcove wardrobe | £8,000 → ~£3,000 | Final price required signing on the day |
| Sharps | Two large sliding-door wardrobes, ~2.9m wall | £4,750 | Same spec quoted by 3 other suppliers (2024) |
| Hammonds | Same ~2.9m sliding-door specification | £4,200 | Same 2024 thread — £550 below Sharps |
| Hammonds | 2m, 3-door wardrobe, double hanging | £2,800 | (2018) |
| Hammonds | Complicated bedroom design, cheaper range | ~£3,000 | (2024) |
| Local independent | Same ~2.9m sliding-door specification | £3,550 | The same 2024 thread again |
That 2024 thread is the single most useful data point in UK fitted wardrobe shopping: one buyer, one specification, four quotes — Sharps £4,750, Hammonds £4,200, a regional brand £4,180, a local independent £3,550. A £1,200 spread on identical work, with the national brands at the top of it.
The recurring pattern across threads is the discount structure itself: list prices inflated to create negotiation room, same-day signing incentives, and "sale ends midnight" urgency that buyers report repeating the following month. One buyer was quoted ~£6,000 for an alcove wardrobe that settled at £1,400. Treat every first quote as an opening bid.
For an authoritative anchor beneath the forum noise, Which?'s fitted wardrobe cost research (published August 2026, quoting survey of nine Which? Trusted Traders in November 2025) puts a professionally installed bespoke wardrobe at an average of £3,900 for a 3-door and £6,200 for a 4-door, with quotes ranging £1,500–£10,000. Those figures sit comfortably inside the buyer-reported ranges above — which tells you the forum data, for all its caveats, is pointing at the real market.
The Third Option: Custom Import Landed Cost
Neither Sharps nor Hammonds manufactures to your room at factory cost — both run showrooms, design services and commissioned sales structures, and all of it sits inside your quote. The third route removes those layers: factory-direct manufacture in China, shipped, cleared and delivered to your UK or Irish door.
The full arithmetic is in our China vs UK joiners landed-cost breakdown — the short version: import duty on wooden bedroom furniture is 0% into both the UK (GOV.UK Trade Tariff, commodity 9403 50 00 00) and Ireland; the entire middle section (freight, port, customs, haulage) runs £4,300–£5,200 per container, which is under £350 per wardrobe at realistic consolidated loads; and import VAT (20% UK / 23% Ireland) applies exactly as it would on any purchase.
Same specification, three routes — indicative comparison, September 2026. Brand figures: buyer-reported 2024–2025 range for a full-wall wardrobe run. Import: factory-direct quote structure, consolidated container, installation via UK fitter at £270/day. Import figures are planning estimates, not a quotation.
| Sharps (buyer-reported) | Hammonds (buyer-reported) | Factory-direct import | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full-wall run, ~3m, mid-range finish | £4,000–£8,000 | £3,500–£6,500 | £2,200–£4,000 landed + fitting |
| Lead time | 3–8 weeks reported | Weeks to months ("estimated") | 8–12 weeks, fixed schedule |
| Design input | Their designer, their catalogue | Their designer, their ranges | Your room, any specification |
| Aftercare | National warranty network | National warranty network | Spare panels shipped with order; UK fitting partners |
The import column is not for everyone — the honest limits are in the risks section below. But for a whole house, a landlord fitting several flats, or anyone combining wardrobes with a kitchen in one container, it is the only route where the price is built from cost up rather than discount down. The same arithmetic holds for dressing rooms — at £6,000–£15,000+, the brands' walk-in wardrobe pricing sits even further above factory cost than their reach-in ranges; our walk-in wardrobe cost guide breaks that segment down separately.
Worked Example: A 3-Metre Run in a 1930s Semi
Take the most common UK fitted wardrobe job: a 3-metre wall run in a 1930s semi main bedroom — hinged doors, mid-range finish, mixed hanging and drawer internals.
Worked example, 3m wardrobe wall, September 2026. Sharps/Hammonds figures are buyer-reported ranges; import figures are planning estimates at £1 = US$1.27 — your itemised quote may be lower or higher.
| Line | Sharps route | Hammonds route | Import route |
|---|---|---|---|
| First quote you will hear | £5,500–£7,000 list | £4,500–£6,000 package | — |
| Realistic settled price | £4,000–£5,500 | £3,500–£5,000 | — |
| Goods (factory-direct, equivalent spec) | — | — | £1,700–£2,600 |
| Share of container logistics | — | — | ≈ £350 (consolidated) |
| UK duty (HS 9403) | — | — | £0 |
| Installation | Included | Included | 2 fitters × 1.5 days ≈ £800 |
| Import VAT | — | — | 20% (recoverable if VAT-registered) |
| Realistic total | £4,000–£5,500 | £3,500–£5,000 | ≈ £2,900–£3,800 |
The import route lands £600–£2,000 ahead on a single 3-metre run — and that is the weakest case for importing, because a lone wardrobe carries its full logistics share. Add two more bedrooms or a kitchen to the same container and the saving per room roughly doubles.
Have a Sharps or Hammonds quote in hand? Send it to us with your room measurements — we'll return an itemised like-for-like quotation, goods and logistics separated, free and typically within 24 hours.
How to Compare Two Fitted Wardrobe Quotes
Whatever route you choose, quotes are only comparable when you force them onto the same lines. Before signing anything, get every supplier to answer this table in writing:
Fitted wardrobe quote comparison checklist — ask every supplier, including us.
| Line to check | What to ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Carcase material & thickness | 18mm MFC/ply? Board brand? | 15mm backs and thin carcases sag within years |
| Door construction | Slab, shaker, framed? Wrapped or painted? | Wrapped foil doors peel; painted MDF lasts longer |
| Hardware | Hinge/drawer brand (Blum, Hettich?) | Unbranded hardware is the first failure point |
| Installation | Included? Itemised? Whose fitters? | "Included" can mean subcontracted day labour |
| Real lead time | Written order-to-install date | Verbal "about 4 weeks" is not a commitment |
| Payment schedule | Deposit / pre-delivery / completion split | Never pay 100% before installation (Hammonds' 25/65/10 is the fair benchmark) |
| Guarantee | Years, and product and installation? | Sharps' 15-year cover sets the bar; anything under 10 is weak |
| Extras | Delivery, survey, "service" charges | These are where promotional prices get clawed back |
A supplier who won't itemise is telling you something. So is one who will.
One more check costs nothing and catches the worst actors: look the company up on Companies House before paying a deposit. Both national brands are long-established, actively trading limited companies — you can verify in thirty seconds that Sharps Bedrooms Limited (no. 07685430) and Hammonds Furniture Limited (no. 01320508) are real, solvent entities. Extend the same courtesy to any smaller supplier you consider, including importers: a UK-registered company with filed accounts is a fundamentally safer counterparty than a trading name with a website.
What Working with George Group Looks Like
George Group is a factory-direct custom furniture manufacturer supplying fitted wardrobes, kitchens and whole-house cabinetry to the UK and Ireland. Every project is built to your rooms, not picked from a catalogue — we work from your measurements or drawings, design each unit in 2D and 3D, manufacture in our own factory, and manage the full chain to your door: export documentation, sea freight, UK or Irish customs clearance, delivery, and installation through UK fitting partners.
What that means against the two national brands:
- One itemised quotation, end to end — goods, freight, clearance, delivery and installation as separate lines you can hold against any Sharps or Hammonds quote. No list price, no discount theatre.
- Factory-direct pricing — typically 30–50% below national-brand settled prices for equivalent materials, because there is no showroom chain or sales commission inside the number. See our wardrobe range and design process, or start from the George Group homepage for the full picture.
- Duty and VAT handled correctly — 0% duty classification confirmed at booking; UK 20% / Ireland 23% VAT itemised; postponed VAT accounting for VAT-registered buyers.
- Free design drawings — 2D plans and 3D visuals before anything is manufactured, revised until you are happy.
Why we ask for your measurements before quoting: a fitted wardrobe is priced by the room, and a container is priced by the load. Send us your room dimensions (or a floor plan, or your existing Sharps/Hammonds quote), and we'll return an itemised like-for-like comparison.
How a George Group quotation works, September 2026.
| What you send | What we review | What your quotation shows |
|---|---|---|
| Room measurements or floor plan | Dimensions, wall condition, ceiling heights | Itemised carcase & door pricing |
| Photos of the rooms | Alcoves, skirting, sloped ceilings, sockets | Site-cutting or fitting allowances |
| Style references (links, photos) | Door style, finish, colour match | Material & finish line items |
| Hardware & internals preferences | Hinges, drawers, rails, lighting | Hardware & internals line items |
| Your location (UK or Ireland) | Freight route, clearance, VAT treatment | Logistics, delivery, installation & VAT breakdown |
Quotations are free, itemised, and typically returned within 24 hours —
When Sharps or Hammonds Is the Right Choice
This is the section most comparison articles skip. We won't, because for some buyers the national brands genuinely are the right answer:
- You want to see and touch before buying. A showroom with physical door samples and a designer who visits your home is a real service — it is simply one you pay for inside the price.
- You need finance. Buy-now-pay-later (Hammonds offers 14.9% APR representative) spreads a £5,000 job into monthly payments; a factory import is a wired deposit and a balance before shipment.
- You want one national warranty contact. Sharps' 15-year product-and-installation guarantee with a UK call centre is genuinely stronger than any cross-border arrangement. Factor that into what the premium buys.
- Your project is small and urgent. A single alcove needed inside a month is a local joiner or national brand job — sea freight cannot be compressed.
Conversely, the import route asks more of you: you measure (or we guide you through measuring), you plan 8–12 weeks ahead, and aftercare works through spare panels and UK fitting partners rather than a national call centre. For one awkward Victorian alcove, our honest advice is the same as in our cost guide: hire a good local joiner. If you are pricing that alcove scenario specifically, the alcove wardrobe sizes and prices guide breaks down what a single chimney-breast alcove costs across local joiners, national brands and import.
Methodology and Sources
Brand data collected 22 September 2026 from official sources: Sharps FAQ (fitted bedroom from ~£2,000), Sharps price & finance page and 2026 cost guide (from ~£3,000), Sharps how-it-works (15-year guarantee, survey within 21 days); Hammonds price guide (Radley £3,738.60–£6,564.00, Cliveden £5,443.80–£9,493.20, delivery & installation included), Hammonds latest offers (40% off selected finishes, free installation, terms to 28 September 2026), Hammonds terms & conditions (10-year guarantee; 25/65/10 payment schedule). Company registrations verified via Companies House: Sharps Bedrooms Limited, no. 07685430 (incorporated 2011); Hammonds Furniture Limited, no. 01320508 (incorporated 1977). Independent benchmark: Which? fitted wardrobe cost research (August 2026; November 2025 quote survey of 9 Which? Trusted Traders — professional bespoke installation averaging £3,900 for 3-door, £6,200 for 4-door, range £1,500–£10,000). Buyer-reported figures from Mumsnet, PistonHeads and Reddit threads (2012–2025), individually linked in the article body; these are self-reported and specification-variable — texture, not benchmarks. Import duty verified against the GOV.UK Trade Tariff (9403 50 00 00, 0% third-country duty); import landed-cost methodology per our China vs UK joiners breakdown. Promotional offers change frequently — verify current terms on the brands' own sites before relying on them.
Have a quote from Sharps or Hammonds in hand? Send it with your room measurements — we'll return a free, itemised like-for-like quotation within 24 hours, goods and logistics separated line by line.
