Cold Control offers cabinet refurbs
16th March 2015
UK: Hampshire-based contractor Cold Control Services has expanded its warehouse facilities to offer refrigeration cabinet refurbishments.
Initially set up to support nationwide retail chain, Wilko Retail, Cold Control is now fully set up with refrigeration equipment to test and commission all refurbished units.
Explaining the decision, Mark Grant, Cold Control’s md said: “When we first started working within Wilko stores, to service and support their refrigeration units, we found that a number of them were between 10 and 15 years old.”
According to Mark Grant, many of these were suffering major component failures due to their age.
“Items such as the vaporiser tray pipework were developing leaks and these systems were becoming heavily contaminated with moisture and needed to be urgently repaired,” he explained.
“As we could not repair the units within the restricted hours that we are allocated on site, we offered to refurbish the ageing units at our premises in Ropley, Hampshire.”
Cold Control has set up links with a nationwide haulage company, which delivers the refurbished unit to the customer’s site out of hours between 06.00 and 09.00, or 19.00 and 22.00. The old unit is then brought back to the Cold Control warehouse for refurbishment.
“Our engineers are currently restoring two units each week,” Grant claims. “We work in tandem so that while one unit is being tested, the other can be fully cleaned and the refrigeration system overhauled, including the replacement of a number of wear and tear items.”
All units are PAT tested before returning to site and a six-month warranty is offered on all renovated units.”
“This expansion has enabled us to hold stock of all components, so that parts can also be dispatched to Wilko sites even when a full refurbishment is not needed. Some spare parts can be on a six week lead time and waiting for these to be delivered is not an option. Now we are holding critical stock this issue has been eliminated.”
Quick turnaround
New units have a standard delivery time of between six and eight weeks from manufacturers in Europe, whereas Cold Control is now able to deliver a refurbished unit to a Wilko store within a week.
Mr Grant explains: “We are currently working ahead of Wilko, so that when they need a cabinet, a refurbished model can be exchanged within one week. At the moment, we have been supplying the stores with one unit per week, but we fully expect this to increase in the summer months and busier periods throughout the year.
“As we move Wilko assets around the country, once they have been refurbished, we ensure the client knows exactly where each unit is by feeding back its unique serial number.”
Further expansion
Cold Control is now offering its refurbishment solution to those companies who can’t afford repair items on site or a long lead time waiting for new units. Mark Grant continues, “The cost of refurbishment, including transport, is a fraction of what it would be for a brand new unit.”
