When Arolite began working with the Gala Coral Group, it took out £450,000 worth of unnecessary catering equipment repair and maintenance costs within the first year.

Many technical support providers have relationships with catering equipment manufacturers that may result in an eagerness to replace rather than repair. Equally, those directly employing a team of catering, refrigeration or warewashing engineers will understandably want to repair, rather than replace.

Arolite has chosen not to employ 'in-house' engineers; instead it uses a network of highly qualified and fully-insured specialists with proven track records in their chosen disciplines. This specialist rather than generalist approach allows the company to 'get it right first time' - keeping costs down and reducing client spend.

Because Arolite is totaly independent and therefore unbiased, it's able to get that balance right. Arolite will audit existing and new commercial catering, refrigeration or warewashing equipment and impartially advise whether it is beyond it's useful working life or performing to optimum capacity.

Staff at Arolite's dedicated support centre will discuss equipment issues, determine the problem and identify the solution (i.e. advising on-site staff how to fix the problem before sending a specialist engineer).

If technical on-site support is required, a first-visit repair is top priority. Call centre staff manage the logistics (ensuring the right engineer is deployed at a suitable time and keeping the client informed of progress), fully brief all concerned beforehand and so reduce the amount of on-site time needed to complete the repair. This reduces down time, potential stock losses and client management time in dealing with the issue. Third-party feedback suggests wasted on-site time is a major irritation and unnecessary cost.

The company covers the whole spectrum, from proactive maintenance (maximising uptime and minimising costs) to selecting equipment. The company tailor-makes its repair, maintenance and specification services, dependent on clients' needs, and can dramatically reduce equipment expenditure.