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.
Institutional kitchens do not get the luxury of closing while works take place or equipment is replaced. Universities serve thousands of students, hospitals run meals around the clock, schools have free school meal obligations. When something goes wrong — or when a planned project means the kitchen has to come down — a replacement setup has to be in place before service stops.
Contract hire fills that gap. Rather than buying equipment outright (capital expenditure, long procurement lead times, disposal at the end) or booking standard short-term hire (expensive at scale, not designed for months of daily use), a contract hire arrangement provides commercial-grade equipment on a rolling basis for as long as you need it.
The short answer: almost everything a working kitchen and dining room needs.
Cooking equipment — commercial convection ovens, range ovens, combination ovens, commercial microwaves. All mains or LPG, depending on site.
Refrigeration — counter top fridges, under-counter fridges, large double-door gastro fridges, chest and upright freezers. All commercial spec, capable of running continuously.
Serving and holding — bain maries, mobile hot cupboards, chafing dishes and fuel, hot and cold counters. Everything needed to hold food at temperature from production through to service.
Dining furniture — banqueting tables in multiple sizes, folding tables, stackable chairs in a range of styles, poseur tables for informal areas.
Tableware and linen — crockery (plates, bowls, cups), cutlery, glassware, table linen and napkins in the volumes that institutional catering requires.
Standard event hire is priced for a weekend. You book it, collect or receive delivery, use it, return it. Contract hire for institutions works on a completely different model:
Our minimum contract length is three months. In practice, most institutional contracts run longer:
Universities — bridging refurbishments, handling summer conference season, expanding capacity for freshers. More on university catering hire.
Hospitals and NHS trusts — temporary kitchens during ward closures or planned works, additional patient dining equipment. More on hospital catering hire.
Schools — maintaining meals service during kitchen refurbishment, scaling up for increased roll numbers, free school meals compliance. More on school catering hire.
Care homes — covering equipment failure or refurbishment with no gap in daily meal service. More on care home catering hire.
We deliver throughout England and Wales. For large contracts we can arrange delivery to Scotland and mainland Europe — we have supplied institutions in Germany, France and Ireland. If your site is outside England and Wales, get in touch and we will confirm whether we can help.
Long-term hire pricing is always quoted individually. To get the process started, contact us with:
We will come back with 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.
