Liam Butler, 30, of Butler Interiors, scooped the ‘Kitchen Designer of the Year: project cost up to £30,000’ prize at the kbbreview Retail & Design Awards 2025, which are considered the ‘Oscars’ of the kitchen world.
“I was absolutely delighted when my name was announced but it was a bit of a blur because I have been shortlisted for awards in the past and not won and there was very strong competition,” said Liam, who lives with his partner Nicola and their two children at Bolton-le-Sands.
The awards were presented at a glittering black-tie event attended by 800 people from all over the United Kingdom and staged at the Tower Ballroom in Blackpool. The evening, hosted by comedian Seann Walsh, included a champagne reception, a meal and entertainment, including a singer and fire dancers.
For the competition Liam had to submit his plan and six photographs of a real kitchen he had designed for a client, plus a 500-word summary highlighting its special features.
The clients, who live at Yealand Redmayne, enjoy skiing and wanted a ski chalet-inspired design, which had excited Liam as he is passionate about skiing as a hobby.
“It is important to design to the space available,” said Liam. “The clients had incredibly high ceilings so I had some very tall wall units. There is also an island that is more of a dining table at worktop height with the hob built into the middle.
“The most unusual feature of the kitchen is that there are three different worktop heights, with the sink raised higher than the hob for example, to create the perfect ergonomics for the individual heights of the clients.
“I was inspired by the ski chalet theme so I designed walnut units at the bottom to represent the chalet, white splashbacks above as the snow and tall, blue wall units to represent the sky.”
Liam grew up in Caton and attended Queen Elizabeth School at Kirkby Lonsdale. He took an Art and Design BTEC at Kendal College and joined his father Mark’s company, Butler Interiors, which designs, supplies and installs luxury and premium-quality kitchens, in 2017.
“I started doing some design work shadowing a colleague and learned I had a skill for it. I have always been creative and enjoyed designing things. I did a Foundation degree in Kitchen Design and we now have a team of four designers and I am the design director.
“I enjoy all elements of the role but my favourite part is sitting with a client, pressing a button on the computer to open their new kitchen design and seeing their positive reaction.”
Liam said he loved creating designs that were different from the norm, adding: “I would love to become well-known enough for my style that people come to me because they want a Liam Butler kitchen, rather than they simply want a kitchen and I am the local designer.”
Liam’s father Mark, managing director and founder of Butler Interiors, said: “I am absolutely thrilled to bits for Liam that he won the award and for the company because it is testament to the level of design we work towards.
“This is an industry I have worked in since school and Liam came in eight years ago and, as a dad, I am bursting with pride that he has grown to be such a talented designer.
“Liam has been asked in September to be on stage to discuss all things design at the Kitchen Bedroom Bathroom Specialist Association (KBSA) national conference at Sutton Coldfield. There will be 400 people there from the industry and he will be one of four people on stage during The Big Debate section.”
Butler Interiors employs ten staff, including designers, installers, showroom and office staff and a delivery driver.
It opened its first showroom at Mill Lane in Low Bentham in 2008 and its second, at Lane House Business Park in Kirkby Lonsdale, in 2019.
Mark said: “Our ethos is that we genuinely care and want to build a rapport with our clients so that we get to know them and their wants and wishes and then go away and create something that they will love and cherish for years to come.”