Thorns kicks the dishes into touch at Twickenham

12 Oct 2006

Watching international rugby matches can be thirsty work. Spectators get through thousands of drinks and mountains of food – a fact known only too well to the Thorns Group, which has just been appointed official catering equipment supplier to Twickenham.

But as the crowds head off home – who gets landed with doing the dishes? Forget those  rubber gloves, Thorns’ answer has been to install a state-of-the-art dishwasher from the specialist appliance company Hobart UK.

The new FTNSB dishwasher model has been installed at Thorns Group’s headquarters in Tottenham, North London as part of the company’s £450,000 investment in new equipment during 2006 which also includes the purchase of an exciting new range of 13,000 square and rectangular plates. Transported in two sections, the dishwasher took over 12 hours to set up and can wash up to 5,200 plates per hour - which is vital to Thorns when its Twickenham contract alone requires around 125,000 catering items to be hired, returned and washed for a range of prestigious events held at the ground.

Jim Williams, Head of Operations for Thorns Group, said: “Our image is based on the cleanliness of our items and the fast turnaround we are able to offer as well as the vast stock available to accommodate each event. We have had our existing Hobart dishwasher for over five years and its performance and reliability has ensured we meet the demands of our clients. We investigated several options but felt Hobart’s commercial reliability and functional features gave us exactly what we need.”

The new FTNSB machine, with its premier filtration system, can also wash 5,000 glasses or cups in an hour – making short work of transforming the cutlery and crockery into a sparkling clean condition again, ready for the next influx of thirsty sports fans. The new dishwasher is supplied with high-quality reverse osmosis water, which ensures streak free results and massively reduces the labour cost associated with hand-polishing glasses. Energy efficiency was one of the top priorities when selecting the dishwasher and Hobart’s ground-breaking technology, including a new Opti-Rinse system which features an exclusive nozzle design, cuts water and energy consumption by up to 57 per cent.

The Twickenham contract for Thorns means that the group – the UK’s leading independent supplier of catering and furniture equipment – will be washing equipment used during many of Britain’s great rugby occasions including internationals against
New Zealand, Argentina and South Africa this November, together with the RBS Six Nations ties against Scotland, Italy and France next spring.

Other highlights will include next year’s Guinness Premiership Final, Heineken Cup Final and Emirates Airline London Sevens competition – but Thorns’ contract will also cover concerts, conferences and other hospitality events to be staged at the stadium.
This latest contract will see Thorns Group supplying equipment to the Twickenham Experience, the only official provider of match-day hospitality and conference and banqueting facilities within the grounds of Twickenham Stadium. In servicing the contract, Thorns is to introduce a number of new product ranges to complement an existing stock that already totals more than a million items of furniture and catering equipment. Thousands of new items will be introduced, in ranges that include the stunning Monderverdi line of cutlery and Perception glassware. Thorns is also to add new items to its recently introduced range of elegant white Sonata china – all dishwasher friendly, of course.

Since staging its first match in 1909, Twickenham has established itself as the home of English rugby. The stadium was extensively rebuilt during the 1980s and early 1990s, resulting in a seating capacity of 75,000, backed by a range of top facilities including large restaurants and function suites, more than 100 executive boxes, the Museum of Rugby and a range of shops.

Further redevelopment began in June 2005, with a new South Stand currently under construction that will increase capacity to 82,000 with the addition of a four-star hotel, health and leisure club, performing arts centre and facilities including additional VIP suites and conference and exhibition space.

 

October 12, 2006