When a kitchen is out of action or capacity needs to increase fast, contract hire is often the quickest and most cost-effective solution. Here is how it works.
When a kitchen is out of action or capacity needs to increase fast, contract hire is often the quickest and most cost-effective solution. Here is how it works.
For current stock and pricing, see our event hire and catering equipment hire pages.
Universities, hospitals and schools cannot pause meal service because a kitchen sits behind hoarding or a key unit has failed. Students still need meals, patients still need feeding, and staff dining still has to run to plan. If your permanent kitchen drops out of use, you need working equipment on site before service breaks down.
Contract hire covers that gap. You hire commercial equipment for the term you need, keep service running, and return the equipment when the permanent kitchen comes back into use. That suits planned refurbishment work, phased building projects, emergency equipment loss, and periods when your team needs extra capacity.
The range usually starts with core kitchen equipment. If your cooks need to prepare hot food through breakfast, lunch, and evening service, you may need ovens, range ovens, combination ovens, or microwaves as part of the temporary setup. Expo Hire supplies mains or LPG units to match the site and the service plan.
Refrigeration also sits near the top of the list. Many projects need undercounter fridges, countertop fridges, double-door gastro fridges, upright freezers, or chest freezers so chilled ingredients and prepared food stay in the right place through a full day of service. If your kitchen loses cold storage during works, the replacement plan has to cover that on day one.
Serving and holding equipment matters just as much as the cooking line. Many institutional kitchens need bain maries, mobile hot cupboards, chafing dishes with fuel, or hot and cold counters so teams can plate and serve food in an orderly way. That applies to dining halls, ward service support areas, school canteens, and conference catering spaces within larger campuses.
Dining furniture often joins the order where a project affects the room layout as well as the kitchen. Banqueting tables, folding tables, stackable chairs, and poseur tables can help you rework overflow areas, temporary dining rooms, or informal staff spaces during a long project. Tableware and linen also matter when the normal stock sits out of reach or the site needs more volume than its own stores can cover.
Standard event hire suits a short booking. You book it for a set date, use it, and return it. Contract hire for institutions follows a different path because the work lasts longer and the site has more moving parts.
That structure matters for institutions because the kitchen supports a live service, not a one-off function. You need equipment that arrives at the right time, fits the room, and stays in use for the whole term without leaving your catering team to patch the gaps.
Our minimum contract length is three months.
That fits many kitchen refurbishments in schools, colleges, and care settings. Some projects run for three to six months while builders strip out the old room, install services, and fit the replacement kitchen. New build fit-outs often run for six to twelve months while contractors complete and commission the permanent space. Some sites keep extra capacity in place for a year or more and review the arrangement each year.
If your project has phases, contract hire can also help you bridge the awkward period between one room closing and the next room opening. That matters on larger campuses where the food service cannot shift to a single fallback room without losing output or creating long queues.
Universities use contract hire during refurbishments, summer conference season, and periods when extra dining capacity helps them cover freshers and campus events. If you run a campus service, see our university catering hire page.
Hospitals and NHS trusts use temporary kitchens during planned works or when patient dining needs more equipment. If you manage healthcare catering, see our hospital catering hire page.
Schools use contract hire to keep meal service running during refurbishments and to cover extra demand when roll numbers rise. If you need school catering support, see our school catering hire page.
Care homes use contract hire when equipment fails or when refurbishment work would interrupt daily meal service. If that fits your site, see our care home catering hire page.
You do not need a perfect equipment schedule before you make contact, but a clear outline speeds the process. Site address and access details matter because the delivery route, loading area, and building layout affect the plan. A rough equipment list helps Expo Hire shape the first proposal. Your start date and contract length matter because contract hire works case by case. Daily covers matter because the kitchen has to match the volume you serve.
If your team already knows which room will host the temporary setup, include that in the first conversation. If the room has limits on power, door width, or storage space, flag those at the start. That gives the site visit a sharper focus and helps the quotation reflect the room you will use.
Expo Hire delivers contract hire orders across England and Wales. If your site sits in Scotland or Northern Ireland, Expo Hire cannot supply this service.
To start the process, contact us with your site address, access details, a rough list of equipment, your required start date, the contract length you expect, and the number of covers you serve each day. Expo Hire will then send a site visit date and a full equipment proposal.
Choose from our vast range of catering hire, furniture hire and exhibition hire products. Select from the categories listed below or use our great search function above.
