The ECF story
Founded over 40 years ago, East Coast Fittings (ECF) has evolved from supplying fixings and fasteners to now offering a complete range of kitchens and bedroom furniture. Today, the business is led by the original founder and continues to grow through its commitment to service and innovation.
A key part of ECF’s success is its in-house design team, which creates detailed kitchen and bedroom layouts for its customers, who are often independent retailers, builders, and one-person operations. Offering this free-of-charge design support gives customers more time to focus on running their business and helps ECF stay competitive with larger national brands such as Magnet, Howdens, and Wren.
To power this service, ECF relies on Cyncly’s Winner design software. The first began using Winner Design in 2018 and then upgraded to Winner Flex, the business platform that incorporates cloud-based project management and tracking tools.
ECF’s planning team regularly works with everything from detailed architectural plans to rough sketches on scraps of paper. For Nick Goodman, Team Planning Manager at ECF, flexibility and speed are essential:
“We do anything from 1 to 18 revisions on a single kitchen, depending on the customer. Having a system that makes those changes quick and intuitive is crucial.”
Before switching to Winner Flex, software updates and catalogue management were time-consuming. Updates had to be installed on a master computer before the team could log in on their individual PCs, creating daily delays and inefficiencies. With new kitchen ranges launching and an upcoming move into bedrooms, ECF needed a more modern and scalable solution.
In April 2025, ECF transitioned its team to Winner Flex, giving them access to all the benefits of Winner, with the added advantages of a cloud-based platform for project management. Catalogue updates now run quietly in the background, meaning the team can stay productive without interruption.
For Nick and the team, Winner’s ease of use remains a major advantage:
“It’s very intuitive. The fact that base units automatically generate plinths and worktops is a big time-saver. Lighting and layout adjustments are also really simple to manage.”
The platform is also helping ECF plan for growth. With new kitchen collections, including Volpi and Valante, having everything hosted and accessible on Winner makes it easier to support customers and streamline the sales process.
The platform is also helping ECF plan for growth, with recent expansions to their Volpi and Gaddesby ranges, and a forthcoming bedroom range called Robe. In fact, one of ECF’s larger customers, with six showrooms, plans to sell the new Robe bedroom range using only Winner’s design capabilities and brochures, without needing physical displays.
Since upgrading to Winner Flex, ECF has seen measurable improvements across its design service and internal operations:
- 60% faster design turnaround, thanks to intuitive tools and streamlined revisions
- Zero downtime for catalogue updates, with background syncing that eliminates interruptions
- Increased retailer satisfaction, with quicker responses and more professional presentations
- Stronger sales enablement, supporting new range launches and reducing the need for physical displays
- Improved internal efficiency, freeing up time across the team to focus on value-added tasks
With Winner Flex, ECF has improved the way its team works and strengthened its offer to independent retailers and set the stage for future growth.
The benefits
Winner Flex is already delivering operational improvements for ECF’s planning team and their customers:
Looking ahead
With Winner Flex in place and all of its ranges and launches on the Winner platform, ECF is well-positioned to expand its support for customers and help independent retailers thrive in a competitive market.
“Winner Flex gives us the tools to offer a fast, professional service and frees up our customers to focus on growing their own businesses,” says Kerry Williams, Marketing Manager, ECF.
Ready to streamline your design process like ECF? Explore Winner Flex and book a demo to see the software in action.
What ECF says
"Winner Flex gives us the tools to offer a fast, professional service and frees up our customers to focus on growing their own businesses."
– Kerry Williams, Marketing Manager, ECF
"More of our customers are sending us Winner files to refine, and we expect many will make the switch to Winner themselves. The fact that the content catalogues and business intelligence are cloud-based just adds to the appeal."
– Nick Goodman
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