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

Question:

I don’t mind admitting that I’m a bit rusty on who is good out there for bespoke cooksuites, especially with induction options. Can anyone add to Athanor, Control Induction and Charvet? Distributor-friendly manufacturers, of course…. !

Replies:

1. MKN
2. We have been working with MKN for some time now. An excellent product range and the Bespoke Suite options have in my opinion unrivalled competition. I have included Wayne Bennett and Rob Purdie’s details below:
   – ben@mknuk.co.uk
   – pur@mknuk.co.uk
3. We tend to use Charvet, Menu Systems & MKN.
   Charvet tend still to be more gas led but are getting better.
   Menus systems for induction come at a price but are good.
   MKN, good solid and reliable still but not as flashy as the Menu System.
   Control induction – we have had experience of them going direct to clients, so be wary.
4. The distributor can speak to DeManincor. He should contact Phil, the UK Business Development Manager. Email: phil@demanincor-uk.com
5. Locher (sister company of Valentine Fryers)
6. Grande Cuisine – Mareno ?
   Exclusive Ranges – Capic ?
   BUT Control Induction all day long – I have found these rarely break down, are easy to work on and the after sales more importantly is 100%!
7. Ceba Solutions Ltd (ceda Member 2023) are distributors for:
   – Athanor Grand Cuisine
   – Charvet
   – Electrolux
   – Bonnet
   – Falcon
   – Baron
   – Mareno
   – Lincat
   All dependant on budget, access, food offer and requirements. Happy to assist where we can.  Kind regards, Geoff Edwards. Email: geoff@cebasolutions.co.uk M: 07483 414158
8. Exclusive Ranges – Menu Systems and Mareno
9. See below list:
   – Baron
   – Olis
   – Ambach
   – Palux
   – MKN

Question:

We have a London based client looking to hire an ice machine on a short – medium term basis. The parts for repair are on an extremely long lead time, but it is still more economical to repair than replace. Their existing machine produces 125kg/24hr so would need to be of similar capacity. Are there any ceda members that offer hire or know of companies that offer such services?

Replies:

1. Jongor Hire London – Tel: 020 3763 5939
2. They could try http://www.rayners.co.uk/
3. Try Jongor, they have an office in London
4. We have worked with a hire company in the past, Allens Hire. Website: Event Catering Equipment Hire London | Allens Hire

Question:

Can anyone recommend a reputable UK based company that either stocks or can manufacture to order the following:

• Large stock pot hobs approx. 800 x 900 x 450mm high with 450mm diameter burners.

Any assistance would be appreciated, thank you.

Replies:

1. Lockhart Catering Supplies or if not maybe try Nisbits.
2. Try: https://www.stockpotsrus.co.uk/