In the past few years, we've seen quite a few independent aga engineers retire or choose alternative business ventures, AGA agents closing shops and the biggest refurbisher in the market (Blake and Bull) going into liquidation.

Some of these are personal choices, some of them down to poor management and others just bad luck. From our 40+ years of experience, the problem with the market is (mainly) the fluctuations. There is no consistent standard for the number of sales each month - that's why you usually see winter, easter, summer sales etc, to boost turnover in the slower periods (especially from bigger companies that have large overheads to cover).

Blake and Bull were the biggest Aga refurbishment company in the UK, and industry friends of ours.

They had built a fantastic business and had a huge loyal following of customers who had experienced their services and the company culture first hand.

They announced their closure seemingly out of the blue in January 2025. Everyone in the industry was shocked. I spoke to their founder Matthew shortly after they officially closed and our conversation was a bittersweet one. Blake and Bull had incredible growth in a relatively short period of time. Companies can quickly grow arms and legs with an enthusiastic entrepreneur at the helm and a big team behind them, but it's not always the best way to operate 24/7 (or sustainable in a niche industry like ours).

Mental burnout is real, and a company can loose it's small family business 'feel', their attention to detail and good reputation by focusing too much on growth.

Here at Saltire, we've learned from the downturns and have lots of experience in this market (we've been working with Aga Cookers since 1988!). Over the years we've worked hard to establish ourselves as the go-to company for ElectricKit Conversions and Reconditioned Aga Cookers across the whole of the UK, and further afield. We've always worked with Business and Financial Advisors throughout our business journey, to give us some good footings, essential management skills and the invaluable experience they bring to the table.

I'd happily talk about business, strategy, branding and marketing for hours, and the (slight) obsession has proved helpful with Saltire over the past 6 years. Although, we did focused on growth for too long.

Since we started as an official limited company in 2019 until 2024, we saw our sales numbers double every single year. It was fantastic from a business growth perspective, but a huge strain on resources and our team morale.

After a particularly stressful year (our busiest year on record!), we decided to scale back the business, and reduced our operating expenses by over 60%. It sounds counterintuitive, but the stress on the team, time away from their families and op-ex costs were just too much to be sustainable, so we had to scale back slightly.

It's the best decision we've ever made.

We'd rather our team at Saltire Cookers have a great work/life balance and keep our focus on quality over quantity. That's why we'd never be in a race to be the cheapest option - cutting corners to save profit or throwing cookers out left right and centre for turnover's sake - we put too much time, attention and craft into what we do. The conversation with Matthew from Blake and Bull proved this to be the right move for us.

Managing teams of engineers, an office full of sales staff, fleets of vans on the road and huge premises isn't for us. The risk/reward doesn't fit with our company vision and we love that our small family business is just that - a bunch of engineers who love what they do.

We've built Saltire from the ground up, with a customer-focused approach. We give you all the information and unbiased advice you need, to make an informed decision on the perfect range cooker for you, and we're here to stay.

A rare 'behind the scenes' post from me today, but I like to share what's going on with Saltire, what happened to Blake and Bull, and the market in general. It's always good to stay informed!

- Steven