With its Gardeners Restaurant expanding from 260 to 420 covers, Pennells Lincoln garden centre had outgrown its old dishwasher.
‘We chose to use a MEIKO dishwash system as the high build quality and excellent after sales service was ideal for such a busy restaurant,”
explains Chris Rouine, Business Development Director for Vision Commercial Kitchens.
Vision has extended the kitchen area to accommodate the new dishwash system, capable of coping with the high demands of a 400+ cover self-service restaurant.
Two machines were installed, a UPster K-M250 WR1TR3 rack transport dishwasher, featuring integral heat recovery, drying zone and a 190 baskets/hour capacity. This machine washes all crockery and cutlery while glassware is handled by a FV40.2G undercounter machine fitted with GiO reverse osmosiswater treatment providing sparkling results with a hand polished look.
Explains Richard Pennell, Company Chairman, “We spent a lot of time talking to alternative suppliers. Without doubt the team from Vision Commercial Kitchens was the most professional and helped us to review the alternatives as well as arranging visits to see the proposed machines in operation."
"We are very pleased with the operation of the new machine and happy to recommend Vision.”
Coincidentally, Vision had worked on a similar project for another garden centre, Barton Grange in Preston, 18 months earlier and this provided an ideal example of the difference an efficient dishwash system could provide.
Pennells is one of the oldest garden companies in the country dating back to 1780 and is probably the oldest still in the same family ownership. The business was founded by a Richard Pennell in 1780. Today the company is run by the seventh and eighth generations, Richard Pennell and his son William.
The company’s earliest record of its catalogues is from the 1840’s. It shows that the nursery was by then growing a wide range of plants, particularly fruit trees and rose trees. Interestingly, a rose bush cost the same as a fruit tree – 2s 6p.
Other developments completed in 2015 included increased retail areas, a new luxury food hall (featuring Simpsons Butchers, the 2015/6 national Butcher of the Year) and a fully covered plant area. The 420-seat restaurant includes a theatre cooking area.
In the national Garden Centre Association awards, Pennells Lincoln won the ‘Destination Garden Centre of the Year 2016’ award for the Midlands region! Barton Grange won “Destination Garden Centre of the Year 2016”.
