There are many reasons why keeping your catering equipment fully operational at all times is essential.

Aside from downtime and lost revenue, you risk reputational damage when patrons can’t enjoy the food they came for.

But one small hiccup with your equipment can lead to a big, long list of headaches.

Fortunately, we’re here to help you avoid these headaches and keep your kitchen running smoothly, just as we did with our long-term client Doncaster Rugby Football Club (RFC), home to the Doncaster Knights rugby team.

Here’s the full story.

About Doncaster Knights

Doncaster Knights is Yorkshire’s only full-time professional rugby club at the time of writing.

It’s the most promoted team in English rugby history, achieving eight promotions across 15 seasons, and it currently plays in the RFU Championship.

The club’s ground, Castle Park, has a capacity of just over 5,000 and hosts many community events. It contains hospitality boxes, lounges, and several kitchen areas that regularly require pre-planned maintenance.

Iain Audsley is the Facilities Manager at Doncaster RFC and works round the clock to keep the ground and facilities fully maintained and operational.

He’s been a client of Collingham Catering Services for approximately 15 years—our paths first crossed when he was Buildings and Facilities Compliance Manager at Doncaster College and University Centre.

Iain: “Collingham’s team look after everything from our coffee machines and deep fat fryers to our dishwashers, and they’ve always provided excellent levels of service.

In the time that I’ve worked with Collingham, they’ve never let me down. So, when we encountered issues with our kitchen’s gas appliances, I knew exactly where to turn.”

The problem

Doncaster Knights was days away from a big match. The kitchen staff had nearly 100 pies to make and plenty of other meals to prepare.

Just as they were about to get to work in the De Mulder Lloyd Stand kitchen, they noticed the gas appliances wouldn’t ignite. Iain and his team found that the ventilation system was working as normal, but they still couldn’t get the gas to ignite on any of the kitchen appliances.

They checked the emergency gas stops and were initially concerned about the possibility of a gas leak.

Thankfully, there were no gas smells or any carbon monoxide sensors activated, so this wasn’t a safety concern. However, they still couldn’t cook any food for the forthcoming match or any of the events they were due to host thereafter.

Considering the club caters to over 400 people in this stand alone on a match day, the stakes were high, and downtime was not an option.

Iain: “This kitchen is not only used to cook food for patrons in the De Mulder Lloyd Stand but also in our smaller cafes.

We prepare everything from steak and kidney pies and curries to vegetarian meals and high-end cuisine.

But without gas services, ovens, and deep-fat fryers, we have nothing and we can’t prepare any meals.

It was critical that we got everything up and running and that this problem was solved very quickly. Otherwise, we were going to have a lot of customers complaining, and we don’t want that.”

Iain contacted us immediately, and we were on site within a couple of hours.

What we did

Our engineers Adrian Thackrah and Tony Wilson attended the premises.

They quickly realised that there was an issue with a solenoid valve, which is an electromechanical device used to control the flow of gas.

Before they could even touch it, they had to isolate the gas to the installation via the isolation valve. They took the valve apart, found out what was causing the problem, and got it back up and running.

They also showed Iain the steps he would need to follow were the solenoid valve to fail again in the lead-up to matchday. Had this issue occurred again and Iain intervened, there would have been no threat to his or his staff’s safety, as everything was completely operational.

Thankfully, Iain didn’t need to intervene again following our visit, and we returned with a replacement part just two days after the match took place.

Iain: “The solenoid valve is a small but critical piece of equipment, and we have no catering without it.

Adrian and Tony recognised the significance of this. Had they misdiagnosed the problem, we could have faced more downtime and spent a fortune on parts we didn’t need.

But they did a quick service, identified the issue straight away, and showed me what had happened.

They made sure what they told us was correct and explained everything very clearly.

I had full confidence in what they were doing and what they were telling me.

Not once did I think, “Am I using the right team?” or “Should I get a second opinion?” The expertise of Collingham’s engineers was never in question.

I was able to relay what they told me to my managers so that they could make the appropriate decisions.

As soon as I passed on the information, they never questioned it. It was just a case of, “Please proceed with the work.”

Collingham did a fantastic job, and it was even better that they got us up and running on the day, rather than having to wait for the parts.”

The long-term results

Since we carried out the works at Doncaster RFC, it has not experienced any further issues with its cooking equipment.

The kitchen in question has been fully operational seven days a week, and the specific problem with the solenoid valve has never shown up again.

Iain: “It was obviously the perfect diagnosis from Collingham Catering Services, and we now have full confidence in the whole gas safe system.”

Why partner with Collingham Catering Services?

We’ll leave the final word to our client.

Iain: “Collingham’s engineers are always very polite, friendly, and knowledgeable. They’re diligent in everything they do and transparent about their costs, which are very reasonable.

The response time and accurate diagnosis in this case prove why Collingham Catering Services is second to none.

If you want confidence, reliability, and problems to be resolved quickly and efficiently, Collingham Catering Services is the company you need to reach out to. I can’t recommend them enough.”

To request a call-out to your premises, call 01937 583266 or email service@collinghamcatering.co.uk.