Kitset Kitchens employees and customers have joined in voicing their concerns about potential financial losses, after the business went into liquidation last week.

Founded in 1946, the family-run business has closed its Ballarat shopfront and stores in Blackburn, Thornbury, Moorabbin and Hamilton.

One Ballarat resident, who did not wish to be named, was informed of the closure by a family member days after the company’s announcement. 

After spending more than $10,000 with Kitset Kitchens on several ocasions, the Ballarat customer said she had come to trust the quality and reputation of the business.

However, she finds herself short of time as she scrambles to find a kitchen for her new house.

“The lead time on a new kitchen is a month ... (and) it’s not possible to move into a home without a kitchen,” she said.

“We will have to order through another manufacturer.”

The customer yesterday received a phone call from Melbourne-based liquidation firm, Bent and Cougle, which was appointed to the Kitset Kitchens case. 

“He said there was no way to sweeten it, but we’ve lost our deposit and we’re not getting our kitchen,’’ she said. 

Some customers will be able to claim their completed kitchens that are now stored in the company’s warehouse.

“There are a number of people who will be contacted to arrange collection, but there is a hell of a lot more who will not receive their kitchen,” Bent and Cougle’s Hamish MacKinnon said. 

He said those who had paid deposits would be creditors in the liquidation process, a task that he described as difficult and time-consuming.