The reigning Flatpack World Champion, who can assemble a two-drawer side unit in just nine minutes and 33 seconds, is preparing to defend her title.
Hayley McAuley, 38, from Wigan, is a warehouse team leader who also operates her own flatpack furniture assembly business. was crowned the inaugural champion in May 2025. She said she was “dead happy” to be crowned the inaugural champion in May 2025, which earned her a gold Allen key trophy.
Ms McAuley attributes her exceptional skill to a lifelong affinity for construction, saying that she has “always liked building stuff” because “it just comes naturally”. She recalls erecting a six-man tent at the age of seven during a family trip to the Lake District.
Her first foray into flatpack came a couple of years later when she observed her father struggling with a wardrobe. At just nine years old, she took over, building it “perfectly”.
Her talent soon led to a steady stream of requests from friends and family for help with everything from beds to wardrobes.
Recognising the demand, Ms McAuley launched her side hustle, Hayley’s Flatpack Assembly Service, in January 2024.
About a year after establishing her business, a friend informed her about the inaugural Flatpack World Championships, held as part of Grand Designs Live. On the encouragement of her friend, Ms McAuley decided to enter the competition and headed down to London to compete.
She aid: “There were quite a lot of people there so I was very nervous.”
The first round saw competitors build an Ikea Billy bookcase, so she said she immediately emptied her toolbox out, completed the project in a blur, and then stood around smiling “like a little kid” among everyone else still going.
The second and final round was a two-drawer bedside table, which Ms McAuley said she completed in nine minutes and 33 seconds. Again, she said she “sat there” waiting for her competitors to finish and “just cried” because she was so happy to have won.
“That was one of the best days of my life,” she said. “Because I just love doing it. Flatpack furniture may look simple, but at speed, it’s a true test of skill, and a bit of chaos too.”
Grand Designs television presenter Kevin McCloud presented Ms McAuley with a golden Allen key trophy, which she said she is going to take with her for this year’s competition held in London in May.
In preparation for it, Ms McAuley said she’s planning to get a “hand and arm” massage just before the competition starts, and get there early to scope everything out.
“I’m looking forward to seeing what different kinds of people turn up,” she said.
“I’m not really intimidated. I’m quite confident in myself. But I’d like to see a lot more people there… And if they’re lucky enough to beat me, even better.”
If she wins, Ms McAuley said she “definitely will cry” again, but she’ll also get new posters made that say “Two-time World Champion”.
Ms McAuley said her training for the competition is baked into her everyday flatpack-building role: “I’ve built sheds, an octagonal greenhouse in the freezing cold, trampolines, and I’ve even built a motorbike. A lady I’d built furniture for, she got it for her daughter’s birthday and she said, ‘My partner’s struggling to do it!’.”
Ms McAuley said she charged £50 for this service because she’d “never done one before”, but she completed it and was “dead proud” of herself. As for her general prices, Ms McAuley said it could be around £30 for a two-door wardrobe, or up to £200 for a metal shed that took her three hours to complete.
“The only time I’ve been defeated is if the company sent something out and it’s not been right,” she said. “Nothing’s ever really defeated me, although I was close to giving up building a trampoline in the rain where I was pulling the springs.
“Nothing will defeat me.”
Ms McAuley said she never gets sick of building flatpack furniture and shared how she bought wardrobes for the home she moved into in April last year.
“I’ve even been teaching my partner’s daughter,” Ms McAuley said, adding that the six-year-old “built the beds in her room and the side unit”.
She said: “I like influencing young kids to build stuff, especially girls, because I want them to be able to do stuff for themselves.”
As for tips for those who struggle to build flatpack furniture, Ms McAuley said: “First of all, separate every screw and nut, count them all, and get them all out. Read the instructions. And don’t do anything permanent, otherwise it means buying new.”
Entries to the Flatpack World Championships at Grand Designs Live London 2026 are now open on their website.