Warming up every moment

Pure Executive are proud to be working in partnership with Big K Products to recruit their new General Manager.

“Our beginnings were humble but our ambition was vast. We built our operation on a strong foundation of values, putting family, relationships and people first. At the same time we were, and still are, always looking at new ways to bring our quality fuel to new people and new markets. Due to never compromising on our principles and approach, we now have 60 years of experience and expertise in the industry.” 

Big K in its current form was established in 1981 following a rebrand from its original business beginnings as ‘Kleanthous and Sons’ in 1965 when founder Theodoros Kleanthous immigrated to the UK from Cyprus. What evolved from his passion for being able to continue cooking authentic Greek food using high quality imported charcoal from Cyprus led to the beginnings of the Big K business. Theodoros’s son Chris was Managing Director from 1970 until 2025 when his daughter Melina took over the mantle, with Chris becoming Chairman of Big K Holdings. The business continues to grow with the group turnover in 2024/25 being c£38m and with gross profits of c£m15. 

The name Big K was chosen for three reasons: charcoal in Greek is karvouno, the family name is Kleanthous and the family’s hometown in Cyprus is Kampia. They are immensely proud of their Greek Cypriot heritage, and it remains the very heart of Big K itself. 

Big K initially started off supplying high end restaurants and hotels with quality charcoal. However, as industry trends changed in the mid-seventies, they expanded into the home barbecue market and over the years they have diversified further to meet customer needs. The business now offers a diverse range of high-quality heating, BBQing and pizzeria fuels as well as related outdoor living products, including barbecues and accessories. With these additions to their operations, Big K runs continuously all year-round supplying restaurants, retail, wholesale and end users via their two UK sites in London and Norfolk, and their e-commerce platform. 

In 2024 Big K acquired an 80% stake in a charcoal processing plant in Namibia and are currently developing this business to allow them to have greater control over their supply chain.