With the consistent growth of Cotswolds bespoke kitchens specialist, Evie Willow, showing no signs of slowing down, the company decided an upgrade to its spraying facilities was badly needed, as it struggled to meet demand back in 2024.
Enter Elmbridge UK 鈥� an industry-leading supplier of wood and industrial coatings and engineering supplies and an expert builder of bespoke spray shops for the manufacturing sector.
SoGlos sits down with Evie Willow to learn how Elmbridge project managed the building of its new spray facility from start to finish, from thorough testing, expert design and installation, to making sure staff were fully confident using the equipment.
Tell us a bit about Evie Willow.
We're a family run Cotswold-based business specialising in creating bespoke handmade kitchens. We work to the highest levels of workmanship to produce functional elegant finishes for our customers.
Founded in 2013 by Dan Allen, Evie Willow is named after his two nieces. Dan, a cabinet maker and kitchen fitter by trade, established the company to provide high quality handmade products at competitive prices. We originally started out as a team of two working out of a small workshop in Shipton-under-Wychwood and moved to our current premises at Minster Lovell in 2018.
We pride ourselves on innovation, providing 100 per cent bespoke solutions that are tailored to our customers' needs. We trust what we produce, so every finished produced comes with a 20-year warranty.
Why did you decide that you needed a new spray shop?
We always benefitted from referrals, so we grew quite quickly. For the first six years we didn't even have a showroom to showcase our capabilities to our customers. When we moved into new premises in 2018, we continued to experience significant growth. Our existing spray shop was struggling to cope with the increase in business and was outgrowing its capacity.
In mid-2024 we realised we needed a serious upgrade to our existing spray shop 鈥� an upgrade that would make the best of our available space and future proof our production facility.
How did you come to work with Elmbridge UK?
We have been a long-term coatings customer of Elmbridge for the past 10 years and knew they were capable of designing and producing the type of spray shop facility we were looking for.
Firstly, Elmbridge visited our premises and together, we identified a new space on-site which could be repurposed to become our increased production space. We then visited the Elmbridge head office in Gloucester, where they have a complete working spray shop facility and we were able to carry out trials.
Over the course of a five-hour test, we were able to complete a full nine-hour shift's worth of spraying. It was an eye-opening demonstration of the potential production improvements we could make with this investment.
What was it like working with Elmbridge on this project?
We did look at other contractors, but Elmbridge's finished design offered the right combination of efficiency and capability.
Before the installation began Elmbridge provided us with a 3D visualisation that showed the complete spray facility, but also where complex multiple ducting would be positioned and where steelwork clearances were.
The final installation included an enclosed spray booth with forced air input and a large drying room with air recirculation and filtration, with heating provided by gas infrared. To enable a complete spray-dry-storage process, they also installed an overhead track system that included multiple storage buffers and a bypass loop.
Following completion of the installation, Elmbridge provided operator training to make sure our team would be fully confident in using the equipment.
What has the new spray facility done for your business?
When the spray shop facility became fully operational, we saw our production capacity increase significantly. Previously we were manufacturing six kitchens per month and now we have the potential to double that and meet our growing customer demand.
To find out more about the services provided by Elmbridge UK, visit .
