deVOL Kitchens is a furniture manufacturer specialising in handmade kitchens, which are produced in Leicestershire, England.[1]
Founded in 1989, the deVOL group of companies employs over 180 staff.[2]
The company has showrooms in Leicestershire, London and, most recently, New York.[3]
History
deVOL was founded in 1989 by Philip deVries and Paul O’Leary,[4] both design graduates from Loughborough University. The name is an amalgamation of the founders' initials.[5] deVries left after 10 years to set up a property company, and O’Leary purchased the company's first shop in Quorn, a village in Leicestershire.[6]
deVOL appointed Robin McLellan Managing Director in 2012, 5 years after he had joined the company as a placement student from Loughborough University.[4]
In 2012, deVOL Kitchens bought Cotes Mill, a 16th-century water mill on the banks of the River Soar in Leicestershire. It moved its headquarters and main showrooms there in January 2013. deVOL Kitchen's sister company, Floors of Stone, is also based there.[7]
In 2014, deVOL opened its first London showroom in Clerkenwell.[8] The company opened a second showroom in the same district in early 2017.[9]
In August 2017, the High Court of Justice Chancery Division Patent Court ruled in deVOL’s favour in a dispute with the kitchen design company Neptune (Europe) Ltd. over unregistered design rights.[10] British designer Charlie Smallbone acted as deVOL’s expert witness, and British designer Johnny Grey acted as expert witness for Neptune.[11] The decision gave clarification on the effect the Intellectual Property Act 2014 has had on UK unregistered design rights.[12]
deVOL opened a showroom at 28 Bond St. in Manhattan, New York in April 2019.[13][14] It is the company’s first showroom outside the UK.[15]
In 2020, it was announced that there would be an eight-part television series about the designer and manufacturer on Magnolia Network, which is owned by Chip and Joanna Gaines, US interior design celebrities best known for their show Fixer Upper.[16]
References
- ↑ "DESIGN The Story Behind... Devol Kitchens", House Beautiful, June 2018.
- ↑ "deVOL Kitchens opening New York showroom", The Leicester Mercury, August 2018.
- ↑ “deVOL kitchen showroom in New York on track to generate sales of £4m-plus in first year”, Business Live, August 2019.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Loughborough Alumni"
- ↑ “Craft and cabinetry cooked up in the kitchen” Financial Times, June 2018.
- ↑ "DESIGN The Story Behind... Devol Kitchens", House Beautiful, June 2018.
- ↑ "deVol moves into 1.5million GBP showroom", Kitchens & Bathrooms News, August 2014.
- ↑ "deVol makes move to London", Kitchens & Bathrooms News, October 2014.
- ↑ “Kitchen designer deVOL opens New York showroom”, Leicester Mercury, May 2019.
- ↑ “UK: Neptune failed to ‘Shaker’ down DeVOL in its unsuccessful infringement claim” Bristows, October 2017.
- ↑ "Neptune (Europe) Ltd v Devol Kitchens Ltd [2017] EWHC 2172 (Pat) (25 August 2017)", Opus IP, December 2017.
- ↑ "Design infringement: Neptune v DeVOL Kitchens", D Young & Co., November 2017.
- ↑ “Kitchen designer deVOL opens New York showroom”, Leicester Mercury, May 2019.
- ↑ “deVOL Opens Showroom in New York” KBB Review, May.
- ↑ “Devol opens first showroom outside UK” Kitchens & Bathrooms News, July 2019.
- ↑ “deVOL Gets TV Show” Designer, May 2020.
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