CASE STUDY

Military Barracks

HCE ‘at ease’ with MOD mess modernisation

Client
Military Barracks
Location
United Kingdom
Industry
MOD

The Junior Ranks Mess feeds around 120 soldiers and military personnel living or working on the barracks base. Providing three substantial meals a day, as well as snacks etc., the mess is a hub for the junior ranks to eat, drink and socialise. With the military personnel on site increasing by over a third in recent months, there was a need to upgrade the dated buffet-style servery area to improve the flow and efficiency at peak times, as Carl Taylor, Senior Site Manager at Vinci Facilities, explains:

“The previous servery area was outdated and no longer fit for purpose. As part of the army restaurant programme, we were tasked with improving the dining experience and facilities. Not only did the equipment itself need modernising we wanted a new design which would meet the current and future needs of the army food services.”

This eight-month long project, which was completed in August 2025, was led by Vinci Facilities who brought HCE Foodservice Equipment in to apply their commercial catering equipment expertise to the design, as Carl explains:

“On a project such as this it’s important to work with a company like HCE that understands the sector as they know what they need to produce and have knowledge of both the infrastructure and equipment. HCE also understand the logistical and security requirements of the base.”

The logistics of working on a secure installation brings its own challenges as Stuart Law, HCE Sales Executive explains:

“Co-ordination is crucial when working on a military base. We have to secure the correct passes for everyone involved with the project including the installation team, engineers, logistics etc. This means regular meetings both on and off site and collaboration between many departments.”

In addition to working with Vinci, HCE worked closely with Duncan Soudan, Senior Project Architectural Technician at Martin Ralph Group who explains more about the process they went through with HCE:

“We initially commissioned surveys to support the initial design and then came up with concept designs where we collaborated with HCE to schedule out the equipment and refine the servery layout. HCE provided clear specification for our electrical and mechanical designers to work to and brought a complete design service, not only creating the counters, but also seamlessly integrating the equipment into them, with full knowledge of the relevant ventilation requirements.”

On this project, HCE utilised drop-in units within the main counters as Stuart Law describes:

“One of the key pieces of equipment we used for this project were the Kubus drop-in units due to their style, functionality and practicality. They also help to futureproof the whole design. We have also incorporated two multi deck grab and go units which thanks to their modern aesthetics and bright lighting, really help to make the products stand out. The counters look amazing, and I am so pleased with the finished project, especially as the catering team here are over the moon with their new servery area”

For Carl it was crucial that all the 3^rd parties were able to work together throughout the project:

Throughout the process we had numerous meetings because we had to coordinate the electricians and the builder to make sure that everything was working together. Especially the sequencing in terms of how the build was going to work. Simon Jocelyn, Project Manager at HCE, was instrumental in explaining what was needed for his part of the build and gaining information from all the other contractors. I would absolutely recommend HCE as a partner they have provided a real strong service and delivered a good quality product.

Carl Taylor

Senior Site Manager, Vinci

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CASE STUDY

Military Barracks