Case study: McKernan Homes
The Client
Based in North Lanarkshire in Scotland’s Central Belt, McKernan Homes has been building homes in the region since 1997. As a bespoke builder, they create thoughtfully designed homes with generous living spaces and the highest specifications.
The Situation
McKernan Homes has a well-earned reputation for high-quality craftsmanship, meticulous attention to detail, and exacting specifications. The ongoing growth of the business created a need to broaden their supplier base and increase the variety of kitchen styles and customisable options available to their clients.
McKernan’s relationship with Silver Birch Interiors started over a decade ago, when our MD, Alan MacGregor, visited one of their sites, asking if they needed a new kitchen specialist.
Owner Peter McKernan recalls, “I was impressed with Alan’s direct and confident approach, and after seeing the quality of his workmanship, I knew we had to work together.”
It was the start of a wonderful working relationship that is still going strong today.
Initially, Silver Birch partnered with McKernan Homes on a variety of luxury projects, and Alan and Peter developed a mutual respect for, and understanding of, each other’s business.
In the last few years, with both property prices and consumer specification demands rising, Alan decided to add a specialist contracts team to the business and created the more affordable Silver Birch Collection offering.
This inspired step opened up additional opportunities with McKernan Homes, allowing us to work with them on lower-priced, more volume-based contracts.
At the time, owner Peter McKernan felt our price point wasn’t suitable for the developments they were working with but began to follow the growth of our company more closely.
Several years later, with both property prices and consumer specification demands rising, Peter felt the time was right to explore what Silver Birch Interiors had to offer and visited our showroom.
The Detail
Delivering value to their clients is a core part of McKernan Homes’ philosophy, so cost is a significant factor when selecting suppliers. However, this is always carefully balanced with their need to use premium quality products that reflect current homebuyer trends.
This is where Silver Birch Interior’s commitment to open, honest communication proved invaluable. McKernan Homes found it easy to have robust, commercially focused conversations aimed not at highlighting problems but rather at finding solutions. They appreciated how agile and responsive our team was in the face of a challenge.
One of the most ground-breaking results of this partnership was the launch of our SBI range, an in-house selection of products offering German-engineered quality at a lower price point.
Always with a keen eye on emerging industry trends, we plan to extend the core SBI range to embrace popular styles and designs, ensuring that while it remains commercially focused, it continues to provide inspirational kitchens.
McKernan Homes were also delighted with how we helped them change how they present their kitchen offering to their clients. By providing them with clear and precise presentations, we eliminated the potential for clients needing clarification on which features are standard and which are customisable extras.
“We’ve experienced exceptional service from the team,” says Peter McKernan. “The design service has been fantastic, and they consistently deliver on their promises without being chased or micro-managed. Each team stays close to every aspect of the order to oversee its progress, and if anything needs addressing, someone is always ready to take responsibility for doing so – and provide updates as they go.”
The Result
Thanks largely to our commitment to consistently delivering exceptional customer service and tailored product options, McKernan Homes now uses Silver Birch Interiors exclusively for all their developments.
Three words to describe Silver Birch Interiors:
Reliable | Credible | Honest
This aligns perfectly with the McKernan Homes ethos.