SATISFYING & REWARDING

It was almost 20 years ago when Paul Collins came home and announced to wife Karen that he’d been chatting to the CEO of Kitchen Studio, who had convinced him that the franchise model was the way to go. She’d advised him that with Karen’s interest in home interiors they would make perfect owners of a Kitchen Studio franchise on Auckland’s fast-growing North Shore.

Paul admits that he initially thought the franchise would make the ideal little business for Karen. However, it turns out that the two of them had the perfect blend of skills for the franchise.

Paul and Karen celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary by signing up to the franchise and have never looked back.

Today, Kitchen Studio North Shore is a great example of a highly successful franchise business. Karen and Paul were the delighted winners of the 2025 Home & Lifestyle Franchisee of the Year title at this year’s Westpac New Zealand Franchise Awards.

Moving with the times

With two decades of experience in the franchise, which now includes their second Kitchen Studio showroom based in Christchurch, Karen and Paul have seen the exciting evolution of kitchen CAD software technology which Kitchen Studio franchisees were among the first to apply in New Zealand.

“CAD is such a valuable tool that lets people preview their kitchens in 3D,” Karen explains, “and in more recent times Kitchen Studio has introduced video technology to assist with kitchen design and delivery.”

The couple enjoy catching up with the other Kitchen Studio franchisees around the country at meetings arranged at least three times a year. “It’s a great chance to share ideas and lessons,” says Karen. “And I believe that’s one of Kitchen Studio’s biggest strengths.

“Kitchens are a very competitive market segment. Building one to fit into a designated space, taking into account things like plumbing, power and flooring, is quite a complex thing to do when you think about it,” she adds, “and it’s really great to have all our professional supplier networks and franchisor team’s support to assist in achieving our common goal.”

Satisfying and rewarding

Karen and Paul were thrilled to take to the stage again at the recent Franchise Awards to receive a special long tenure recognition award – together with the owners of the Wellington, Hamilton and Hastings stores, who had also been Kitchen Studio franchisees for 15 years or more.

“Satisfying and rewarding” is how Karen describes their relationship with clients of Kitchen Studio, and that’s also how she sums up the total experience of winning this year’s Home & Lifestyle Franchisee of the Year accolade.

“That whole process of investing in the health of your business and looking at it from different angles to see what’s working well and what’s not – that is so rewarding,” she says, “and the feedback from the judges has been invaluable.”

“Kitchen Studio North Shore demonstrated very impressive flexibility and resilience throughout the year, with outstanding attention to detail in every aspect of their business. Their approach is clearly delivering excellent results,” said the judges.

“On the night it was very special to be up on stage with all those other winning franchisors and franchisees,” adds Karen. “It really was so thrilling!”

Karen admits that she has now recognised that your business doesn’t have to be perfect all the time. “There’ll always be aspects you’re having to work on, and the business is constantly evolving,” she says.

Paul agrees and says he’s extremely proud of what they’ve achieved on the Shore. “Our clients demand excellence and that’s what our team lives for.”

Kitchen Studio CEO Dawn Engelbrecht says the winning duo were most deserving recipients. She invites anyone with a similar passion for excellence, who would like to become part of the forward-thinking Kitchen Studio brand, to call her today.  

See this advertorial on page 13 of Franchise New Zealand magazine Year 34 Issue 04 

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