Interview: Sharon Wallis, MD, Poggenpohl UK

Welcome to The kbbreview Podcast, your host is Andy Davies as always and this is the second episode of Season 14.

This week we've got a great, and very candid, interview with Sharon Wallis, the UK head of one of most iconic and longest-established kitchen furniture brands you can find - Poggenpohl.

It has a long pedigree, of course, established as it was in 1892 in Germany by Friedemir Poggenpohl but its recent history has been a little more tumultuous. 

In 2020 at the height of the pandemic it filed for insolvency in Germany and, after a scrappy and uncertain sales process, it was eventually bought by Chinese firm, Jomoo.

So, kicking off with both a lockdown AND the insolvency of the German parent, finance director Sharon Wallis took over as the new MD. A baptism of fire for anyone.

But Poggenpohl in the UK has always been a steady ship and, in fact, celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2024. It is, of course, both a retailer in its own right, and a supplier to other independents.

So, what was it like taking over at that time, how is current performance, how do you balance both retail and supply and what is it like being a female senior business leader in an industry still dominated by men?

Our kbbreview editor-at-large Rebecca Nottingham went to meet her at their Hampstead showroom….

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