Simpson’s in the Strand

Speaking on this £1 million kitchen refurbishment, Alex Pitchford – Project Manager for Jeremy King Restaurants – explains that the aim was to “make the spaces work in a way that would allow us to operate most efficiently. However, we were very aware of the challenges of it being an historic space. The kitchens dated back nearly 100 years and the way they were laid out and designed is very different to what we want today. Selecting the right people and the right equipment for the project was therefore crucial, which is why we employed the likes of PSE Associates to project manage and SHW to create the initial designs”.

“With the facility being 200 years old and having gone through a number of major refurbishments, it needed care”, says Julian Shine, Business Development Director, HCE.

“We received a very good stage 3 design from Sefton Hall Winch, and on top of this we created the services, schedules, made sure that the flow patterns and the equipment selected would work within the building etc”. After acquiring the final design from SHW and an agreement on the costings, “HCE then moved on to fabricating the stainless-steel equipment, ordering the specialist equipment then the installation phase and the handover and commissioning phase”, states Craig Burley.

Equipment within the kitchen included a FlexiChef with an automatic cleaning system, and a 20-grid oven which can dry roast, convection, steam, and be used as a water bath. This allows chefs to “work in numbers” and “free up space in the kitchen where the chefs can actually work on”.

HCE is looking forward to continuing this relationship through working with Simpsons on the servicing and maintenance of the space. As Alex states, “history tells you that you can buy the best kit in the world but if you don’t look after it and maintain it then in a very short space of time you are going to be in trouble. We made the decision it is much better to work with the people who know the kit”.