James Watt College

A central element of the refurbishment has been the upgrading of the 12 years-old student canteen to create a facility which the students can enjoy, and ‘charges their batteries’ for their studies.

CHR Equipment, one of the UK’s leading commercial kitchen companies, has transformed ‘The Engine Room’, creating a stylish and efficient area and enabling turnover to increase by almost 50%.

To ‘fire up’ The Engine Room, CHR Equipment worked closely with the College and contract caterer Redcliffe Catering. The old canteen has been completed replaced, with a new kitchen and service section, and re-styled seating area, carefully designed to enable efficient food preparation and service flow, whilst providing a light, welcoming environment.

John Starmer, Birmingham Metropolitan College Estate Director, observed,“Good, healthy food provides the fuel for us all to function efficiently. The new canteen is genuinely becoming the engine room of the campus, seeing an increase in the number of students using it. It is now a welcoming place to go, providing good value food via a range of hot and cold dishes, deli and pasta bars, and snacks.

“Students are staying on campus more, and sales in The Engine Room have increased 46% since it opened.”

The Engine Room at James Watt is one of the many CHR projects in educational establishments, proven to enhance performance: at St Helens College, clever refurbishment of the old kitchen generated substantial savings which enabled the College to apply for a second phase of development.