Question:

We have a bit of a dilemma as our supplier has component issues and therefore, we need to find a bottle cooler with the below dims that can be delivered to a restaurant in London by Friday – 29th September 2023!
*600 wide 800/820 max high 500 deep and needs to have s/s solid door.

Replies:

1. Osborne will make but whether in time is another matter.
2. You can try Osborne refrigeration as they make to order but are not cheap.
3. The only one I can think of is Precision Refrigeration BBS600_GD it can be configured for height and a solid door but not sure if they would have stock or the delivery slot.
4. They might struggle with 500mm deep is it not 550? Osborne do one 160ES GSS, im 90% sure its in stock as I only checked the back end of last week.
   *That’s the glass door code sorry not sure if they do a solid door.

Question:

We are looking to undertake some works in Cheshire and are looking for a reliable, competitive & thorough supplier and installer of PVC Wall Cladding & Suspended Ceiling Grids. Can anyone recommend anyone?

Replies:

1. ceda Member ‘Square One Interiors’ are happy to help. Contact: Lee Martin. Email: lmartin@squone.co.uk or Tel: 01455 241207. Website: www.squone.co.uk
2. ceda Member ‘Sylvester Keal’ are happy to quote for the work. Contact Ashley Ramsay via ramsay@sylvesterkeal.co.uk Tel: 01472 352033. Website: www.sylvesterkeal.co.uk
3. We use HFS Systems, who are based in Ellesmere Port.
4. Hygienic Finishing Systems – 0151 355 6105 – Bernie@Hf-Systems.Co.Uk
5. We would recommend Commercial Coverings. Contact: Kirk Hooker – Email: kirk@commercialcoverings.co.uk Tel: 0191 2951133 Website: www.commercialcoverings.co.uk
6. We use a company called Elite Interiors as they work nationwide and are excellent. Email: keith@eliteinteriorsuk.com or phone: 01502-563951.

Question:

Please ask the CEDA members how they deal with the engineers in regards to the below please?

*How do other companies deal with engineers parking costs. Does your company have something in place to pay for this on the engineers’ behalf or do you re-imburse your engineers upon receipt of a expenses claim form?

*How do your engineers record parking to pass the charges back on to a customer and ensure it isn’t missed/forgotten about?

We seem to be having an issue with the engineers forgetting to add parking to their job sheets and even though they are given a £50 float? I’m assuming other members have a more reliable way of dealing with this issue?

Replies:

1. One we use is Corporate ring go.
2. We use a wide variety of parking apps like Ringo, My Permit, Pay By Phone – some are corporate log ins, all very useful.
   For the engineers who expense cash parking there’s we have an expense claim form they send in monthly against a specific job number – reimbursed in month.
   Most importantly we have a mandatory question within our electronic forms
   – Have you paid for parking Yes/No
   – How much (0.00)
   This is added to the invoice at billing stage
3. No, we run something similar – a £50 cash float. Engineers bring in the receipt (with the clients name on) we charge out and reimburse the engineer. In reality, we don’t get the receipts on a daily basis, but it works for us.
4. We use a ringo/PayByPhone corporate account. Each engineer is Setup and can only pay their allocated vehicles. Very easy to set up online and you can allocate 1 credit card to the entire account.
5. We are experiencing a sharp rise in parking charges too.
   Our engineers use Ringo or similar (where available), they register themselves with Ringo but it enables them to email an electronic receipts into the office immediately after parking, and access any receipts at a later date.
   They put the job number and site on the email.
   They then send an expenses claim form at the end of each week which should match up with their receipts.
   The engineers are asked to enter the parking charge on their PDA when closing each individual job down and enter in the parts used column.
   Although this works 95% of the time it is down to the engineers ensuring they enter the charge details on their job but by requesting the engineers email the receipt into the office after each job, prompts us in the office to check the parking charge is on the job and focuses the engineer they must follow this procedure or it may affect their expenses claim.
6. The way forward is to ensure all engineers have centrally controlled parking apps on their phone, on the basis over 50% of jobs now incur parking it needs to be automated.
   We do provide engineers with a float but I can’t recall  cash payments for parking.
   Our engineers are on a global tracker so our co coordinators and our FM system knows where they are, this  records to the job, however by setting up Apps, Ringo most popular, Pay by Phone and various local council apps, the engineer automatically registers parking, , when you park , open the app, it reads parking location,  tick and follow prompts, ie van reg, duration etc, all goes back to a central account, the account can be linked to a global tracker, if you don’t have that luxury, then old school, referencing is required by co coordinators. However, you know there is always a 50/50% chance a charge is required.
   In respect of clients, some don’t like being charged some accept without issue. Our quotes show parking on the same basis as VAT, IE
   The quote shows service cost which has a footnote, this cost excludes VAT, Parking & Congestion will be charged at cost.
   If we have client that don’t accept addition charges ( usually FM Companies ) they must be set up on a higher hourly or callout tariff, the cost to put a van in London will average at about £75 a day, therefore £10 per hour must be added to then Tariff.
   To be honest, clients don’t realise the premium service providers have to  pay to undertake visits,  they are very quick to comment on how expensive the  Tariff is ,  perhaps a little reminder on social media is applicable , the unseen cost of a service visit.   London congestion has risen disproportionately, Ulez has expanded, the hours of charge on both congestion and parking have expanded to 7am from 9am and 5pm to 6 pm, Saturday are now chargeable, in short even early morning work or Saturday work, we can’t visit for free, the implications are massive. Clients who have business on prime locations benefit from footfall, they can’t have it both ways, associated cost are chargeable or the service will disappear.
7. Our engineers pay the parking, add it work the job sheet, as a backup take a photo of the ticket and post to our WhatsApp group or by e-mail to finance.  They will then be reimbursed with payment of monthly wages, so it is within their interest to remember to claim it!
8. We just charge this out at cost. We have also had the same conversation, so would be interesting to know what other people say. We also have the same issues with congestion and Ulez charges. Our callout costs don’t include the charges, and sometimes for hard-to-reach places in London we see charges of up to £40 for parking!
9. Our Engineers have always claimed parking on their weekly expenses & where possible backed up with parking receipts.
   Due to the wide geographical area we generally know roughly how much & try to wrap it up in the call-out charge but in the city centre it knocks up outside costing & results in a subsequent discussion but it’s all about attention to detail.
   Customers don’t like to see it itemised.
   I liken our profitability to a colander in respect of Engineers forgetting to include Parts, Parking, consumables (we make a flat charge for consumables on all service invoices & inclusion of parking could be included here).
10. We don’t employ engineers directly however, at my previous company the normal method was to reimburse the engineer at the end of the month when they send their timesheets in, we added an expenses section on the bottom showing things like parking charges etc. If that wasn’t acceptable to the engineer, they’d submit it weekly via an email.
    Now and again, we’ll check that the claim matched their trackers for the period being claimed for which would police the system quite well. If it was an area where there was an option to pay by phone upon arrival, they simply rang in, and the office made the payment and confirmed it with the engineer. The parking charge was then added to the job sheet for invoicing purposes.
    Simple way is to add a field “expenses” on their reporting system so it generates the info at the time of the visit.
    As I said above, the only way to do it is to put in a visible reminder. When we had a paper system it was simply a box that would be ticked – the ticket would be added to the timesheets if available when submitted. When we moved to electronic a drop-down box would appear before you could leave the screen asking if there were additional items such as sundry items (fixings) or parking etc.
    Personally, I’d remove the £50 float to start with, if it’s their money being used, I get the feeling that they won’t forget so easily to leave it off the job sheet.
11. We register engineers and their vehicles on the most popular parking apps, Ringo, Just Park, Pay4Parking etc which have business accounts that way engineers aren’t out of pocket especially in London and other city centres and the engineer has the option on his job to add expenses ie parking.
12. We currently have parking charges on our system as a spare part. When an engineer completes the job, they add the parking as a part, which is invoiced to the customer. The engineer then claims the money back through an expense form.
13. With regards to parking, our engineers either pay cash and add the charge to their worksheet for invoicing or if we are quoting for works then we add the charge.
14. As you know we operate 60 vans so we do have long standing procedures in place.
    • Our engineers also have a £50 float for the now rare occasions that they have to use cash.
    • We have corporate accounts for Dartford Tnl, RingGO, JustPark, PayByPhone, EasyPark and some smaller regional systems.
    • We use Allstar Fuel cards that can also act for Toll roads such as M6 toll. This card can be used in almost all Petrol Stations and eliminates the need for numerous cards.
    • Most of our customer require nationwide rates that include: Parking, Tolls, Congestion and Ferries. So our “Call Out charge” includes an average of those charges and then an hourly rate.

    Additionally, we do not buy or lease our vans, they are on hire and come sign written, with Dashcams and tracking. They are serviced outside the engineer’s house at 8am so that the engineer can then continue with his days work, and we have 7 day cover with a replacement van supplied if required.

15. Each of our engineers has a credit card (Capital on Tap) which they use to pay for their fuel, parking charges, and non-supplier purchases. They supply receipts for each purchase made on their card, which are then reconciled against the card. Expenditure can be monitored on a daily basis so that nothing is missed if the engineers forget to let us know.
    Each card is limited, and expenditure closely monitored. The total is paid weekly/fortnightly or monthly (you choose) so there are no additional charges.
    Parking is recorded on the job sheet and is added to the invoice.
    We have used them for over a year, and it has worked very well for us as the costs are closely controlled.

Question:

I’m in need of a Catering Engineering Company who have full airside passes for East Midlands Airport? For both Electrical equipment and Refrigeration?

Replies:

1. Try Archer Catering Systems. Macauley –  macauley@archercateringsystems.com Tel: 0161 737 8307.
2. Although we do not hold full airside passes, could we attend on temporary airside passes? We are currently using temporary airside passes at another airport whilst we are waiting for full airside passes to be issued (October 2023) Contact Chris Cane – Service Manager –  Gratte Brothers Catering Equipment Ltd. Tel: 01438 750022 Email: ccane@gratte.com
3. We have worked for a restaurant at East Midlands Airport – airside, they just needed company name, engineers name and passport and driver’s licence.
4. I’m sure NCE London have these passes – contact service@nce.uk.com

Question:

I am not sure if this is question will be relevant on ceda but l would like to know what companies with fleet vans do with the fuel cards.

Do they change fuel companies a lot so that they get the best price, or do they have a few cards and then tell the engineers which ones to use that week dependant on the price of fuel?

I don’t want to keep changing cards all the time as the engineers will get fed up.

Replies:

1. We use Allstar and have done for many years.
2. We run  30 plus  fuel cards – All Star, this is run alongside Company credit cards also Allstar approx. 6, as such an associated deal,   we have had no cause to change for 4 years,  I believe chasing the ultimate deal for short term gain is a fool’s errand,    Keep it simple and it will work without issue, Settle on an acceptable rate, and keep your account well managed, reserve your energies for your trade.
3. I have been using Harvest Energy for a few years now as they do not charge any fees for card use, pricing based on volume, and they update you every Friday with the following weeks prices.
   Usually, 15p per litre cheaper than pump price, only downside is Supermarkets charge a fee of 5% for processing so we never use supermarkets.
   Fastfuel and Keyfuels so all motorway services take the cards.
4. Allstar seems to best suited to us.
5. We use Husk. They track market best prices. We have a secondary Shell Card for supermarkets.
6. We use Key Fuels at the moment but tend to monitor the prices every 6 months.
7. Very valid question, I think! We went with Interfuels about 10 months ago and never looked back after being with WEX for a few years. Easy to use web platform, no hidden charges and very helpful staff to deal with too. Seem to be quite a large outfit too. Alas not all cards are accepted everywhere so my lads also have a backup company credit card just in case but I would imagine most companies work on monthly expense claims instead. At least worth a phone call. They send a text every Friday to a phone (or they can email) to notify you what the pump prices will be set at the following week as well – it’s always cheaper than the actual pump prices too and unlike most they do not sneak the prices up either which most do. Hope this is helpful!
8. We use Allstar for exactly that reason and have 60 vans.
9. We have three suppliers and engineers are emailed each Monday morning and advised which to use for the week. Husk, Fuel Card Services and Inter Fuels all on the Key Fuels network. Usually comes down to the latter two!
10. We use The Fuelcard Company – customerservice@fuelcards.co.uk The cards we have from them can be used in all Shell Garages which we find to be good availability in our area.  We have just completion a cost comparison & they were still cheaper.
11. We use Keyfuels. We use two companies, Fuel Card Services and Interfuels. Every week we receive an email from both companies, and we instruct our engineers which card to use.
12. Our engineers have a credit card with a low spend limit. They can fill the van wherever they need to and can also buy any non-stock parts if needed. Because we pay the balance each week/ fortnight or month there are no charges applied to the cards, so there is no additional charge. We use Capital on Tap.

Question:

I am after a large induction stock boiler and wondered if anyone in the group could help? Something like the Cook-Tek one.

Replies:

1. Cuisinequip do one. It can be bought from Valentine.
2. The induction side of Valentine make one.
3. Suggest here: https://www.targetcatering.co.uk/induction-stockpot-boiler
4. I believe Cuisinequip/Valentine do one!
5. Valentine do one via their Cuisinequip brand – https://www.cuisinequip.com/product-page/i-stockpot
6. We have recently purchased these from CuisineEquip/Valentine – https://www.cuisinequip.com/product-page/i-stockpot

Question:

Unfortunately, we have just been advised that our van tracking company are closing down and they have given us 60 days’ notice! We are based in the North of England. Can anyone recommend another company?

Replies:

1. Tell them to try Quartix Vehicle Tracking. Been with them for years and very good. quartix.com
2. We use Inseego.com for our van trackers, might be of use to them. https://inseego.com/solutions/gps-fleet-tracking
3. ‘Abax!’ I pay £90 per month for 5 vans. App on phone, MOT and service logs, driver performance etc.
4. We use Quartix and have done for many years if that helps.
5. We have successfully used RamTracking for many years.
   https://www.ramtracking.com/
6. We previously used TomTom commercial, and it was far superior.
7. We have been using this firm for over a decade and it works well. https://www.webfleet.com/en_gb/webfleet/
8. We use Teletrac Navman- it comes highly rated!
9. Teletrac Navman, K1, Kents Hill Business Park Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes, MK7 6BZ – UK. Tel: 0800 098 8696 www.teletracnavman.com
10. We use Quartix. No complaints from the team here.
11. We are using Visiontrack and Fleetsmart. Maybe this can help. Both have advantages and disadvantages, but they can book a demo I believe so.
12. We recommend www.fleet-trak.co.uk
13. We use Foresolutions – Simon Moyles is the owner. Unit 5C, GP Centre, Yeoman Rd, Ringwood BH24 3FF – Phone: 0330 094 5344 Amazing service and product.
14. We have used Masternaut for several years and can’t fault them.
15. We use a Warrington based company, Kwiktrak.
16. We use a company called Movolytics for our tracking solutions who have provided very competitive rates and free training etc for our fleet of 25 vans over both companies.
    Their contact details are below if your member gets in touch they are welcome to contact me about the service.
    Movolytics
    Nicola Fuller
    Head of Customer Services
    Mobile (+44)7960438546
    Ph (+44) 1223618175
    Nicola Fuller nicola.fuller@movolytics.com
17. Kwiktrak (UK) Ltd. Office: 01925 763385. Mobile: 07773 270509 Email: Simon@kwiktrak.co.uk

Question:

We are due to renew our energy contract and wondered if any members could recommend a company they have used and are happy with?

Replies:

1. BCR Associates deal with larger business but have now moved transferred their smaller contracts over to https://smarterbusiness.co.uk/energy/ who have helped us find a better contract.
2. Some offer a dual discount if they have both gas and electric, but I swapped to British Gas last Feb and found them very reasonable on price. They used to have a bad name back in the day but seem to be a lot better of late.
3. We use Octopus Energy as they seemed to have the cheapest rates for us. Simple to sign up with them direct and it skips any brokers fees, which are unnecessary. £100 credit on the account for any company that signs up using this link: https://share.octopus.energy/oak-coral-429
4. We have used McGrady Clarke for the last couple of years and have found them to be excellent, contact details as follows:
   Theodore Clarke
   theo@mcgradyclarke.com
   mcgradyclarke.com
5. conor@globalgasandpower.co.uk he’s pretty thorough and we ended up with the best prices from him.

Question:

I have a client in central London who has a couple of nitro coffee machines and has said “we’re having some issues with our Nitro Coffee maintenance. BevTek who installed and looked after the machine for us have had to shut the business”.

Does anyone know of any other companies that can provide machines and offer maintenance?

Replies:

1. Middleby UK do the nitro coffee machines.

Question:

I am currently looking for a shipping partner, specifically to bring appliances in from outside of the EU.
Does any member have any trusted partners they currently work with?

Replies:

1. Depending on where from Ital logistics is an option but I have only used for Germany and Italy.
2. The company we have worked with before is Oceanblue. We purchased some goods from Australia, and this is the shipping company they used.
   Robert Salt / Director
   Oceanblue Logistics Ltd
   Olympic House
   4 Laceby Business Park
   Grimsby Road, Laceby
   NE Lincs, DN37 7DP
   Tel 01472 878514
   Email rob@oceanbluelogistics.co.uk
   www.oceanbluelogistics.co.uk
3. We use Alpi. We have tried loads since Brexit and we have found these guys to be the best and most reasonable on the market. We have been using them to transport Warewashing machines from Italy to the UK. Contact cut and pasted below.
   Lloyd Satchwell
   Sales Executive
   Tel: 01675 469042 / 01675 463284
   Mobile: 07475 512929
   Email: L.Satchwell@alpiuk.com
   Website: www.alpiuk.com
4. I have used Dane Waldron (Waldron logistics) to bring large equipment in from the Netherlands and he was fantastic. Trusted guy! Great service and price info@danewaldronlogistics.co.uk Tel: 01213284101
5. We use Socotra for all our imports from all over Europe. Contact details – Tony Burrows – tburrows@socotrauk.comT: 01625 919080  M: 07776 512835    E: tburrows@socotrauk.com    W: www.socotrauk.com