Franchise New Zealand | Winter 2026 | Year 35 Issue 02
12
Multi-showroom Kitchen Studio franchisee Ryan Dickins believes the key to
being a successful business owner is to have a skilled team behind you. “The
other essential is to have a brilliant franchise system,” he says.
After he left school Ryan was employed for several years in the golf industry.
“Sport was everything to me at school,” he says, “and I played every one
available. If you’d told me I would end up owning a business designing
kitchens it would never have been in my wheelhouse! My father is a
chartered accountant with his own business and something of a mentor to
me, so I think business is in the family blood. A franchise appealed to me
because there are so many different advantages to the business: proven
systems, big time marketing, lots of experience to draw on, and people
who’ve done it before. You are not out on your own.”
Having decided on franchising, Ryan discovered the Kitchen Studio outlet
in Palmerston North was for sale. There was a slight problem – he didn’t
know the first thing about designing or building kitchens. “I had no joinery or
cabinetmaking skills or background,” he laughs. “We came to an arrangement
where I bought into the business over 18 months and spent that time learning
everything from the bottom up! That was 2019, and since then I’ve built up a
team of people I can trust and depend upon, with all the skills we need.”
Solid reputation
Kitchen Studio has an impressive list of statistics behind its operation. The
franchise has been running for over 40 plus years and has just been voted
the nation’s Readers Digest Trusted Brands winner for Kitchen Designers and
Manufacturers for the tenth year running. In their forty years the company
estimates they have renovated over 50,000 kitchens.
“We were the first company to offer in-home consultations with our top
kitchen designers,” says Kitchen Studio CEO Dawn Engelbrecht. “That’s now
an essential part of our service, along with our Total Trust Deposit Guarantee,
which protects client deposits in the unlikely event of franchisee failure, and
our Total Trust 10-year transferable warranty, reinforcing confidence in every
kitchen installed.
“We’ve had great success in the main centres,” says Dawn, “with client
demand building so high that we’re now expanding further into the regions
and provinces of New Zealand, opening up new territories and opportunities
for existing and new franchisees.”
You have the honours
Ryan Dickins was among the first to take advantage of a new opportunity
with Kitchen Studio. “Twenty minutes up the road is the town of Feilding, with
some of the biggest saleyards in the country,” he says. “It’s absolutely crowded
on market days, so it made good sense to open a satellite showroom there. It’s
much more convenient for visitors to pop into our showroom on a market day
when they are already there. We really are ideally placed.”
After seven years, Ryan retains his passion for the industry. “I can see myself
continuing to grow with Kitchen Studio ten years down the line,” he says.
“We have a self-renewing market, an amazing, highly organised franchise,
and the company does a really cool gala awards dinner. In fact, I recently tied
first for the Kitchen Studio Franchisee of the Year award!”
“Ryan has been the first to expand
Kitchen Studio into a more provincial
town,” says Dawn Engelbrecht. “It’s
already proved to be the success we
expected, and more franchisees will be
doing the same. We have a number of
exclusive territories available, from around
$150,000. If you’d like to join our network,
the time has never been better – give me
a call to find out more.”
Award-winning Kitchen Studio franchisee
opens satellite showroom in the Manawatū
PROVINCIAL
EXPANSION
Opportunity: Home & Building
Kitchen Studio
www.kitchenstudio.co.nz
Contact
Dawn Engelbrecht
027 291 0094
dawn@kitchenstudio.co.nz
Advertiser Info
Ryan Dickins (second from left) with his
award-winning team and Dawn Engelbrecht,
Kitchen Studio CEO (far right)
We’re
levelling up
Ready to build your future with a brand
in serious growth mode? Join us!
Contact Dawn to learn more
027 291 9904
KITCHENSTUDIO.CO.NZ/
FRANCHISE-OPPORTUNITIES
The timing couldn’t be better to join the Kitchen Studio
network. We’re making major upgrades across the
network that honor our 40-year legacy while positioning
our franchisees for the next era of growth.
INVESTMENT FROM $150,000 PLUS SET UP COST
We don’t just design stunning kitchens – we empower driven
individuals like you to turn their ambition into a profitable, fulfilling
business. Territories available in Blenheim, Coromandel Peninsula,
Masterton, Napier, Rotorua, Taupō, Upper Hutt, Whanganui.