Behind the badge
Enodis is one of the biggest catering equipment companies in the world - and, what's more, it's British-owned. But it's not a name that trips from a chef's tongue.
Ask the chef to name some of the top makes in prime cooking equipment, though, and brands such as Garland, Convotherm, Frymaster and Moorwood Vulcan are sure to be on the list. These are all Enodis brands.
In the UK, Enodis splits down into five independently operating divisions, only one of which carries the word Enodis in its name (which derives from the Latin word for solutions).
The company has a long history, and was known for more than a century as Berisford. Before deciding to focus on catering equipment several years ago, it owned companies such as kitchen and joinery chain Magnet and British Sugar, both now sold off.
Catering equipment companies jostle for the position as global leader, but it all depends on how the business is measured (by cash value of sales, or items sold - and it also makes a big difference if domestic sales are included along with commercial equipment sales). Enodis is in the top four however business is measured, with manufacturing plants in 10 countries and sales that are truly global.
There are five operating companies that form Enodis UK: Viscount Catering is the Sheffield manufacturing and distribution base for Moorwood Vulcan prime cooking equipment, Sadia refrigeration, Jackson water boilers and Sadia Solutions - which makes serveries and counters as either Sadia Select (which is the name that makes display cabinets) and Sadia Conserve (holding units).
In addition, Viscount has a niche brand, Henry Nuttall, which manufactures cooking ranges for the fish-and-chip sector.
Merrychef is the microwave ovens division of Enodis. Its Microcook models have just a microwave function, while Mealstream is a range of programmable combination microwave ovens, some of which can absorb smoke and grease smells without external ventilation.
Enodis Distribution handles most of the heavy-duty brands: Garland ovens, Frymaster and Dean deep-fat fryers, Convotherm combi-ovens, Cleveland boiling kettles and Ice-O-Matic ice-makers. It also distributes one quite specialised piece of equipment, the Lincoln impinger conveyor oven, whose main use is in high-volume pizza production. Enodis Distribution is also a distributor of Merrychef microwave ovens into dealerships.
Scotsman BeverageSystems is one of the best-known international names in ice-makers. It also makes beer-line coolers, draught soft-drinks dispensers and cooling systems for fast-food outlets. Enodis bought Scotsman some years ago, but chose to continue the successful UK importing trading relationship for the ice-makers with Hubbard Ice Systems, a wholly separate equipment distributor. Scotsman Beverage Systems is also the vehicle for Enodis to distribute its cellar management equipment.
Vent Master produces kitchen ventilation equipment. It manufactures in the UK and offers a complete turnkey design-and-build service.
Contacts
For more information on any of the divisions of Enodis and its products:
e-mail: contact@enodis.com
Website: www.enodis.com
Telephone: 020 7304 6000
