In 1994 Tony Murland visited Japan to source quality Japanese woodworking tools, on the trip he saw some amazing kitchen knives that he had no idea existed. Beautifully balanced knives with layered steel blades, elegant handles with a handmade construction.
Having a healthy interest in cooking, Tony brought some of these knives back to the UK. A stand at the BBC Good Food Show was immediately booked and thus Kin Knives was born and the rest is history. Since then Tony and his daughters, Harriet and Rebecca, built Kin Knives into one of the most famous brands of Kitchen Knives, associated with quality and individualism.
The Kin Knives range is a collection of products from small, handpicked Japanese manufacturers and in some cases individual craftsmen who in return for being included within the Kin brand have offered Kin Knives exclusivity of their product.
In 2006 Harriet joined Tony to undertake the day-to-day running of Kin Knives. After leaving school Harriet was not sure what to do; so when her father Tony suggested she had a go at running Kin Knives she jumped at the chance. She had always been interested in good food so working with some of Britain’s top chefs seemed like an exciting career. At this point Kin Knives was a very small business (exhibiting at 2 shows a year) and her main aim was to become a household name within the public and professional chef industry. During her first year Harriet attended 32 exhibitions and small food events. Over the years Harriet, her father and sister saw Kin Knives grow into the successful company it is today.
Sadly Tony passed away in April 2020 after a short battle with Motor Neurone Disease. We now donate 1% of all sales to the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation to help those with MND and for further research to find a cure.
Rebecca has since moved on to set up her own businesses with her partner Clément; a natural wine company called Smashing Wines and a fabulous pub called the Sorrel Horse in Shottisham Suffolk.
Harriet now runs the business alongside her husband Zak. Zak is a trained carpenter and also makes and sells all sorts of kitchen items from locally sourced timber. Kin Boards is the latest Kin venture specialising in chopping boards, salt and pepper pinch pots, knife blocks and magentic storage racks and more recently even tables.
