Your kitchen burning down usually spells disaster for your catering operation.  Not so at Oaks Golf Club: the temporary kitchen is so good, it’s actually better than the original!  Which means it’s business as usual at this popular Surrey venue. 

Kitchen fires often start from within the kitchen itself, but not in the case of the Oaks Golf Club in the Surrey town of Carshalton. A fire broke out in an adjacent building.  Unfortunately it was an exceptionally windy night and the wind fanned the flames onto the kitchen building. The damage to the kitchen was total. Only the walls and a few items of crockery were left by the time firemen had put out the blaze.

As with all golf clubs, the catering at the Oaks Golf Club is an important revenue stream, with regular day conferences, dinner dances and even weddings supplementing the daily food service. “Suspension of catering was not an option for us. We had to keep connected with the local community,” says catering manager Jennifer Brayshaw.

 A rapid solution to the crisis came with the siting of a temporary kitchen from CKS (Container Kitchen Systems), joined onto the dining facilities with a covered walkway. Jennifer says CKS came promptly, the day after the fire, to discuss the style and volumes of food the club needed to produce, and to plan exactly the right equipment for the temporary kitchen.  The kitchen was supplied as soon as the Council gave the OK. 

The CKS unit was a Large Production Kitchen, measuring 2.9 by 8.6 metres.  Its equipment included LPG cooking ranges, refrigeration and dishwashing. “The kitchen was actually better and easier to work with than the one that burnt down,” says Jennifer. “And the equipment CKS provided was better, too.  For example, everything was moveable, which made cleaning really easy.”   Installation and commissioning is all part of the CKS temporary kitchen service and everything is checked to comply with health and safety regulations.

As well as the kitchen, CKS also kitted out a temporary servery area, in what was formerly a squash court.  Equipment included a range of food serveries and a till point. 

Rebuilding of the kitchen is still some time off, but Jennifer says the CKS temporary kitchen and servery run so smoothly that staff enjoy the new working environment.  More importantly, customers can’t tell the difference. 

CKS is one of the UK’s leading temporary kitchen specialists.  The company also offers a professional kitchen installation service and operates a catering equipment maintenance division. 

For more information, brochures and details, contact Container Kitchen Systems direct, by phone on 01483 238800,
email sales@cksltd.co.uk or on the web at www.cksltd.co.uk