Woman who built a bedside table in under 10 minutes to win the Flatpack World Championships wants ‘more competition’

The reigning Flatpack World Champion who built a two-drawer side unit in just nine minutes and 33 seconds is looking to defend her title and said she’s hoping there’s “a bit more competition” for her this year.

Hayley McAuley, 38, from Wigan, is a warehouse team leader and runs her own business building flatpack furniture. She said she competed in the Flatpack World Championships on May 2 2025 and was “dead happy” to be crowned the winner, where she received a gold Allen key as a trophy.

Hayley said she’s “always liked building stuff” because “it just comes naturally”, remembering a moment where she put up a six-man tent from as young as seven years old when her family went on a trip to the Lake District.

The first ever piece of flatpack furniture Hayley said she built was a couple of years later when she saw her dad struggling to build a wardrobe. She said her father “wasn’t good at it at all” so she, at nine years old, ended up taking over and built it “perfectly”.

Ever since, Hayley said her friends and family have asked her to help them build everything from beds to wardrobes, which prompted her to start a side hustle in January 2024 – Hayley’s Flatpack Assembly Service.

On how her business came about, Hayley told PA Real Life: “I bought a dressing table and a three-door wardrobe, and after I built them all, I put a picture of it on my social media profile.  A lot of people were saying, ‘I could do with you coming round’, so I thought I could probably try that. I got the poster made, and it just took off.”

About a year after Hayley started her flatpacking business, she said a friend called and told her about the inaugural Flatpack World Championships in May 2025, which was part of Grand Designs Live – an exhibition in London that features expert consultations, live talks, and hundreds of exhibitors.

On the encouragement of her friend, Hayley decided to enter the competition and headed down to London to compete.

Hayley said: “There were quite a lot of people there so I was very nervous.”

According to Hayley, 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 Hayley 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 Hayley with a golden Allen key trophy, which she said she’s going to take with her for this year’s competition held in London in May.

In preparation for it, Hayley 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, Hayley said she “definitely will cry” again, but she’ll also get new posters made that say “Two-time World Champion”.

Hayley 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!’.”

Hayley 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, Hayley 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.”

Hayley 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,” Hayley 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, Hayley 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 here.