Background

Independent supermarket, Hazlemere Food Halls in Buckinghamshire have a healthy share of the local grocery business with around 15,000 customers passing through their checkouts every week. Although totally independent, they use the services of the NISA Buying Group to leverage generous discounts from suppliers so that they can compete on price with the major chains.

The Challenge

With the supermarket chains so dominant in UK grocery retailing, the challenge for independents like Hazlemere Food Halls is to find their niche and match customers’ expectations of value and service. Space is at a premium and with frozen and chilled foods a major contributor to the shopping basket, Hazlemere Food Halls have devoted around half of the available floor space to items requiring refrigerated display. Should any unit fail, back-up space is limited and therefore the potential for spoilage is high.

The challenge for Hazlemere Food Halls was to find a refrigeration services company who could meet their needs and provide a service that was competitive.

Climate Cooling rises to the challenge

 

Climate Cooling are now in the third year of their maintenance contract with Hazlemere Food Halls. Critical to the success of the relationship has been Climate Cooling’s ability to minimise emergency callouts. Every refrigeration unit is inspected quarterly and given a thorough ‘health check’. That way potential problems are anticipated well in advance and replacement or repairs scheduled at a time when disruption to store trading is at a minimum.

Should an emergency callout be necessary, Climate Cooling guarantee a response within 5 hours. In most cases this will be much less.

Climate Cooling help Hazlemere Food Halls introduce labour-saving changes

Climate Cooling recommended the advantages of a rolling milk fridge and Hazlemere Food Halls have been delighted with the result. The system makes it possible to wheel the cages, in which the bottled milk is delivered by the supplier, straight into an open display chiller. Customers simply help themselves from the cage and with store handling at an absolute minimum both customers and the store benefit through competitive pricing and a healthy profit margin.

Bill Collett, Manager at Hazlemere Food Halls sums up the relationship with Climate Cooling
"You always know where you are with Climate Cooling. The guaranteed response time, the preventative maintenance . . . it makes my job much easier. In the past chiller breakdowns have caused some real headaches, now we cope with them comfortably. If it’s an emergency callout you know that whatever time you phone they’ll be here.

They’re very friendly, very efficient. If it’s a question of replacement or repair, I know they’ll always be clear about their recommendation. I put great trust in their judgement. They do a great job, no question about it.”