The UK joinery market has experienced steady growth over the past decade, driven by increasing demand for high-quality craftsmanship, sustainable materials, and bespoke design. Within this broader landscape, one area that stands out is specialist joinery – an increasingly vital segment focused on custom, commercialgrade solutions tailored precisely to the needs of individual projects. This is joinery refined and elevated, offering made-tomeasure installations that combine function, form, and finesse. As design standards rise and commercial environments demand more tailored solutions, specialist joinery is fast becoming an essential part of modern construction and interior fit-out strategies.
Specialist joinery caters to a range of sectors, particularly retail, leisure, commercial offices, and healthcare environments. These industries share a need for high-quality, functional, and often visually appealing interiors, but they also present unique design challenges. While they may appear to be under pressure, these sectors remain key clients for joinery professionals who can offer innovation and flexibility, largely due to their internal investment pattern as they continue to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.
In retail and hospitality, the pandemic accelerated changes that were already in motion. The growth of e-commerce, combined with social distancing measures and successive lockdowns, led to a wave of closures. Many high street shops and hospitality venues struggled to survive, and those that did often emerged into a market where footfall was lower, and customer expectations had changed. Today, businesses are finding it harder to justify large investments in new premises. Factors such as the cost-of-living crisis have further impacted consumer spending, with many individuals reducing discretionary purchases and opting to stay in rather than go out. These pressures have left many retail and hospitality operators focused not on expansion, but on survival and reinvention.
Commercial offices tell a similar story. The rise of hybrid working and remote jobs has significantly reduced demand for large office spaces. A considerable number of companies have downsized or completely abandoned traditional office environments, choosing instead to work remotely or adopt flexible workspace models.
According to 2024 data from industry analysts, office occupancy in major UK cities remains over a quarter below prepandemic levels. However, this doesn’t mean that companies have stopped investing in their workspaces entirely. Instead, the focus has shifted from size to quality. Businesses are taking the opportunity to rethink their environments, creating spaces that are more collaborative, flexible, and better suited to new ways of working. Instead of building new offices from the ground up, companies are choosing to refit existing spaces to meet modern needs.
This pivot toward refurbishment has become one of the key drivers of growth for specialist joinery. As businesses seek to enhance their premises without committing to full-scale construction projects, they are turning to interior specialists who can help them make the most of what they already have. Fit-outs, upgrades and retrofitting are now more common than ever. This approach offers a cost-effective way to stay current, meet regulatory standards, and enhance user experience, all without the risks and delays associated with major development work. Specialist joinery plays a central role here, delivering made-to-measure solutions for reception areas, meeting rooms, built-in storage, and display elements that elevate the workspace while ensuring it serves its practical purpose.
Retailers and hospitality venues, too, are embracing refurbishment as a strategy for recovery and growth. Faced with the need to stand out in a crowded and cautious market, businesses are investing in revitalising their interiors. Whether it’s a boutique hotel updating its bar and lounge area, a restaurant reworking its layout to improve flow and customer comfort, or a retailer upgrading their display units to enhance brand appeal, custom joinery is key to achieving a highimpact transformation. It allows businesses to make targeted improvements that reflect their identity, meet evolving customer needs, and demonstrate ongoing investment in their brand, all of which are crucial in attracting and retaining footfall in a challenging economic climate.
Perhaps the most important and unique opportunity for specialist joinery lies in the healthcare sector. Hospitals, clinics, care homes, and mental health facilities demand an incredibly high standard of design, where durability, safety, and hygiene are as critical as usability and comfort. Off-the-shelf furniture and fittings simply don’t suffice in these environments, instead, what’s needed are tailored solutions that respond to complex layouts, comply with strict regulations, and support both patient well-being and clinical efficiency.
Private healthcare providers, particularly in the mental health sector, are increasingly investing in specialist joinery as they look to offer secure, comfortable environments that promote recovery while maintaining strict safety standards. These facilities require highly customised interiors, often designed in consultation with medical professionals, to ensure they are fit for purpose.
Meanwhile, the public healthcare sector is also undergoing significant transformation. In January 2025, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, reaffirmed the UK government’s commitment to its New Hospital Programme. This long-term initiative includes the construction of 40 new hospitals by 2030 and a comprehensive programme of refurbishments for existing NHS facilities, supported by an investment of up to £20bn.
This announcement brings renewed confidence to the construction and interiors sector. For specialist joinery firms, it offers a sustained pipeline of projects with long-term certainty, something that is increasingly rare in today’s volatile market. It also reflects a broader shift in government strategy, moving away from temporary fixes and towards meaningful, high-quality infrastructure investment. For healthcare environments to be fit for the future, they must be designed and built with the very highest standards in mind, and specialist joinery is fundamental to achieving that.
In this context, the growth of specialist joinery is not just a temporary trend but a reflection of broader changes in how we approach commercial space, public infrastructure and the built environment as a whole. It is an industry that demands a high degree of craftsmanship, innovation, and collaboration. But it is also a highly competitive space, where businesses must find ways to stand out – not just through pricing, but through quality, reliability and the ability to work closely with clients to deliver tailored outcomes.
In launching a dedicated specialist joinery division, Premier Forest Products aims to set itself apart in the market. Besides myself, our team at the new business includes industry experts Scott Bowman and Gareth Howells. Our focus is on delivering bespoke solutions with a strong focus on design, collaboration, and customer service.
With a combined wealth of experience in the design, manufacture, and installation of specialist joinery across the commercial sector, we bring together deep knowledge and a proven track record with top-tier contractors.
Premier Forest’s approach is built around flexibility, offering a full end-to-end service from initial concept to final installation. It works closely with clients at every stage of the project, ensuring that each solution is carefully designed to meet the specific needs of the space, the user, and the brand.
The new specialist joinery division also benefits from Premier Forest’s vertically integrated supply chain. It is an operation engaged in the importation, processing, machining, engineering and wholesale distribution of timber and timber products from multiple sites in the UK. This allows for efficient sourcing of high-quality timber materials and access to advanced manufacturing technologies.
Premier Forest Specialist Joinery’s ability to provide a full fitting service also positions it well in a market where timelines are tight, and delivery expectations are high.
This strategic addition perfectly complements Premier Forest Products’ existing joinery offer, opening opportunities for us to expand into a more commercial setting and utilise the expertise of our new staff members.
In specialist joinery, innovation is key through the design and manufacture process, but trust is also paramount. We will work closely with our clients to understand their design vision and no matter how bespoke or creative that vision is, we will deliver. A close relationship ensures clarity and success, allowing us to stand out from the crowd as we aim to deliver the customer’s vision in timber.
