Alver Valley Garden Centre

When it came to who to turn to, to help bring the catering project to life, for Tim, it was simple:

“We’ve known HCE for many years and they’ve worked with us on several other projects in the past. We’ve always been happy with the final result when we’ve collaborated with HCE, so they were very much our first choice. We tasked them with designing and specifying the whole back of house kitchen, as well as the front of house servery area to ensure consistency across all areas.”

Steve Holley, Director at HCE explains the process they went to when designing the front of house to ensure the flow of the café worked for both customers and staff: “Alver Valley’s food offering is all homemade so we wanted to create a servery that allowed the products to be clearly visible, but which could also cope with increased footfall at busy times. From our knowledge of customer flow at other sites, we designed a bright, spacious area with free flow counters that is welcoming to all and shows off the food in all its glory. As customers arrive they are tempted by both the grab and go as well as the hot meals areas, before each customer is directed to beverages and, freshly made ice cream at the far end.  The tills are separate, taken away from the main servery, so when customers go through, they are directed from the counter, and can collect their cutlery separately as well.”