( CNN ) -- The AGA Rangemaster may be a quintessentially British cooker , but demand has slumped amid the UK 's recession . Now , the cooker that has been at the heart of British kitchens since the 1930s , is looking overseas for its profits . Britain 's troubled housing market hit sales of the sturdy oven hard , the company 's chief executive William McGrath told CNN . Sales fell and the company cut jobs . Read more : Patek Philippe boss : Quality is more important than growth . `` The level of housing transaction is well under half the level it was back in 2007 and 2008 , so , really we have seen a flat-lining period , '' McGrath said . `` There is a correlation between house sales and purchases for your kitchen ; indeed , you are most likely to spend money on your kitchen in the six months or so after you move house , '' he said . Read more : Europe 's new threat : Slow decay . In 2012 sales dipped 2.5 % , but with some rigorous cost-cutting the company has managed to post a 12 % jump in pre-tax profit . `` From the peak we have lost around 600 people , '' McGrath told CNN . The move has saved the company around $ 27 million , but to sustain profits they 're looking to new markets . The company sells 37 % of all its products to North America , but it expects this number to increase to half of all its sales . It also plans to launch in the Chinese market . Read more : Auto industry revs up recovery on Spain . `` In China there are very few cookers , '' says McGrath . `` The cooker does n't really exist as a product category , so we 're talking about the potential for a whole new product category which will hopefully take China by storm . '' Moulding the Chinese consumer into one with British tastes is an ambitious strategy . The Chinese buyer , used to steaming , boiling and frying food on a gas burner , may need some persuading to consider a giant cooker complete with roasting and baking ovens . Read more : GE Europe chief eyes investment in Germany . Chinese houses could also cause issues for the company 's strategy . Chinese kitchens are often small and in high-rise buildings -- creating a squeeze for a cooker which is between 90 and 110cm wide and weighs around the same as a baby elephant . But McGrath is optimistic , demonstrating to CNN how a wok can be used to stir-fry on the rangemaster 's hot plate . `` As we found in Britain in the 1930s , there 's the evolution in the nature of the Chinese kitchen , maybe moving from a galley kitchen to something 's that is more the heart of the home , '' McGrath said . Home is where the heart is , and increasingly this will be overseas for AGA Rangemaster . While it weathers the storm in Europe , it 'll try to cook up a storm in China .
China 's troubled housing market hit sales of the sturdy oven hard , CEO William McGrath told CNN . In 2012 sales dipped 2.5 % , but with cost - cutting the company has managed a 10 % increase in pre - tax sales . With Rangemaster looking to China -- the world 's second - largest economy -- as next growth market .