Background
Our client is the market leader in healthcare catering, delivering high quality, nutritionally balanced meals to over 120 hospitals and healthcare groups across the UK.
Established in 1986, the organisation provides cooked chilled and frozen prepared meals for the healthcare, education and local authority sectors providing a complete menu requirement for hospitals, care homes, and home services in addition to providing high-quality catering solutions.
The Challenge
The client was looking for a new chiller to hire in their depot based in Cambridge. This location was used as a ‘satellite’ depot – with deliveries and collections of milk and other dairy products taking place normally in the mornings. The temperature of the unit was to vary between 0 and +5 °C. AHR was called and a site survey was promptly undertaken.
The Solution
A full inspection of the site and the working practices undertaken on site highlighted a number of considerations.
The size of the depot itself is quite small with a high volume vehicles in and out of the facility. AHR recommended a bespoke 3 metre by 5 metre fitted chiller room with sliding door. Additional features incorporated in the design would improve operations at the depot. AHR were able to create a ‘floorless’ unit enabling deliveries and collections to be wheeled in and out with ease.
Furthermore, it was important that the cold storage unit had both interior and exterior protection in case of damage. In order to address this, the team at AHR incorporated a 5 bar protection plate inside and outside of the chiller and also installed Armco barriers to the front and sides of the unit.
All of the bespoke panels for the chiller were built off-site and the full installation of the unit took the team only one day – with minimal disruption to operations.
The client also benefited from the flexible financial terms offered by AHR. With no initial outlay required – the business enjoyed competitive weekly rental fees which also included a 24-hour breakdown and maintenance package.
AHR was delighted to have played a fundamental role in enhancing the logistics of the business and that the cold storage unit has positively impacted the daily operations and efficiency at this busy depot.
