The Project

Producing nearly 1000 covers a day is no simple task and requires catering facilities that can cope with high numbers of people during compacted time periods (i.e. lunch breaks). The facilities were already at maximum capacity and were in need of an update, so with the expansion of the distribution centre, Argos decided to invest in their catering to enable them to grow their workforce.
Acme were involved in furnishing the new staff canteen and kitchen with catering equipment, warewash equipment and a bespoke serving counter. This was one of our most complex bespoke jobs to date and involved several special efforts and measures to deliver what the customer required.

Argos looked to move their staff canteen from the ground floor to the first floor, giving more room for seating and an enlarged servery. The only option however was to keep the commercial kitchen on the ground floor, so Acme had to retro-fit several dumbwaiter elevators to transport food between floors.

Whilst it was possible to expand the staff facilities, it wasn’t possible to expand the kitchen, so Acme worked closely with Nexus Workspace and Argos to specify heavy duty, high capacity equipment for the kitchen that would enable Argos to cater for higher numbers of customers from the same footprint. Acme supplied multiple 20-grid Rational Combination ovens, Frima Vario-Cooking Centres and other high-capacity cookline equipment. Acme also supplied a large variety of space-efficient refrigeration units, including under-counter Adande units that could be programmed to operate as either refrigerators or freezers. Both of the above helped increase the capacity of the kitchen whilst keeping the footprint the same.

The real challenges were the work that Acme carried out in the staff canteen. Acme supplied an automated conveyor dishwasher that could be manned by just one operative but clean over 150 dishes an hour. This unit had to be craned into the first floor through a bespoke hatch in the wall due to its size & weight.

Acme also worked closely with their sister company, The Canopy Company, to produce one of the largest bespoke servery counters they have ever produced. At 7.7m long from end to end, it had a variety of hot and cold serving bays with integrated equipment, as well as facilities for cutlery, utensils and payment. This was designed by Acme, manufactured in Lancashire and installed by Acme’s teams, being transported in parts and welded on-site.