Prestige venue persuaded by performance and service support
Based in the heart of London’s legal quarter, between Fleet Street and the Thames, the Inner Temple is one of the four ancient Inns of Court and has been home, workplace, school and library to generations of barristers and judges. Today, whilst continuing to serve over 8,000 members, the Inner Temple is a prestigious venue available for weddings and receptions, banqueting and corporate events. Collectively the Main Hall restaurant, four function rooms and garden can host over a thousand visitors at a time, and the site is open seven days a week.
To cope with the huge amounts of crockery the venue can generate, the Inner Temple recently installed a Winterhalter MTR multi-tank conveyor dishwasher system. The system was supplied by Nelson Catering Equipment of London.
“The main dishwasher is a vital piece of equipment,” says Vicky Portinari, Head of Catering at the Inner Temple. “At a banquet we might be catering for 600 diners, with at least four plates per cover, so we’ll need to wash several thousand items of crockery, sometimes in a ninety minute period.
“Our members expect the best and the Inner Temple attracts very prestigious events and customers. When it comes to warewashing, we need absolute reliability and the cleaning results have to be outstanding.”
Before deciding on the Winterhalter MTR, Vicky and her team did a lot of research. “We had had the previous machine for eight years and it had become unreliable. Worse, we were having problems getting service and spares, despite it being a major brand. After-sales support was a key buying criterion and Winterhalter showed they could deliver.
“We also compared the sustainability credentials of the different manufacturers’ models. Winterhalter scored well overall in terms of water and energy savings and longevity.”
To maximise operating efficiency the MTR has a Mediamat washwater filtration system that removes contaminating particles permanently from the tank water – reducing water, power, and detergent consumption throughout the operating cycle. To further reduce power consumption, the ‘zone activation’ system only operates pumps and fans in each zone (pre-wash, wash, rinse and so on) if loaded racks are actually present. Meanwhile the MTR’s optimised rinse system reduces water consumption by 25-30%.
A third buying factor was ease of use and training. “Although all staff must be able to speak English, for many of our kitchen porters it is not their first language. Despite being a sophisticated machine, the MTR is easy to operate. The fact that the electronic control panel is multilingual is a bonus – a member of staff having problems with the diagnostics in English should be able to check them in his or her own language.”
As well as the machine itself, Winterhalter supplied racking and tabling, as the whole wash area was upgraded. “We had several meetings with the company on site to plan everything, from the services and power to the layout, so that staff would be able to handle the flow of racks,” says Vicky Portinari. “With the old system we had problems with racks bumping and breaking crockery. The new layout works very efficiently.
“The Winterhalter MTR gives us the wash quality we need and the company guarantees a fast after sales support service. It’s a professional arrangement that suits the Inner Temple very well.”
Winterhalter at the Inner Temple
The MTR rack conveyor washer at the Inner Temple is a two tank machine with a heat pump, which recycles the heat from the final rinse stage and can reduce energy consumption by up to 12kW/h. The model, number MTR-2-130-SMM HP, can operate at a speed of 130 racks per hour. Installation was a challenge as the kitchen and wash area is in the basement and the machine had to be carried downstairs and assembled. Winterhalter also supplied extensive tabling.
For further details, call Winterhalter on 01908 359000, see www.winterhalter.com/uk-en/, or www.winterhalter-scout.biz or email info@winterhalter.co.uk.
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The Inner Temple – Nov-13
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Links:
The Inner Temple: www.innertemplecatering.org.uk
Winterhalter: www.winterhalter.co.uk
Nelson Catering: www.nelsoncatering.co.uk