Tine for a change

Michael Slagle has just spent £12,000 on silver-plated cutlery for his hotel, the George in Colchester. It's an astonishing sum considering that his business is neither a five-star hotel nor a celebrity-chef destination restaurant, where such an investment wouldn't raise an eyebrow.

Slagle's hotel attracts large numbers of shoppers, owing to its town-centre location, and runs a virtually continuous food operation from 7am to 10pm in its lounge and 70-seat restaurant.

Although he already has three AA red stars, Slagle is upgrading the business, which is why he chose Old English, a traditional "parish" pattern.

"I took my chef and restaurant manager to California's Napa Valley and went to a lot of good restaurants to get ideas," he says. "What stood out was the cutlery, which was silver plate. It was much nicer than ours, which was very ordinary stainless steel.

"I could have bought top-quality stainless steel, but decided it was worth spending the extra on silver. I see it as giving something back to the customers."

The cutlery was made in Sheffield and supplied by Lambert & Blaber, a Surrey-based catering distributor. Director Vanessa Blaber says that Slagle's decision to buy silver plate for his market is unusual and bucks the trend toward buying the cheapest product.

"It all goes in the dishwasher," says Slagle, "and with the silver being 20 microns thick, which is mid-range quality, we're assured it should last a fair amount of time. I didn't want to go for the more costly 30 microns because of the inevitable losses."

The catering market has polarised, with silver plate or electro-plated nickel-silver (EPNS) now being bought almost exclusively by top establishments, where perceptions of quality matter. Sheffield manufacturer Arthur Price of England, which mainly supplies four- and five-star hotels, says this end of the market is placing greater emphasis on tabletop co-ordination, seeking cutlery to match room design concepts. For example, London's Savoy Grill is currently looking for cutlery to tie in with its art deco style.

Traditional designs dominate Sheffield silver plate. "Styles, such as parish patterns like Jesmond, Bead, Kings and Harley, go on for ever in the catering sector," says Roy Valens, managing director of Baker Silverware, which does EPNS in 10-30 microns and imported 18/10 stainless steel. He attributes this to the cost of development, the breadth of patterns available, and the continual need for replacement stock, which restricts the choice of design.

Fresh designs generally come from stainless steel imports, which have the majority of the market. John and Joanna Raines spent £400 on Bistro, a modern stainless steel pattern from German firm WMF, for Red Snapper, their 36-seat Bristol restaurant.

"Our style is simple, with bare wood tables and minimum place settings, so we needed something in keeping," says Joanna Raines. "This pattern is perfect. A lot of modern cutlery looks cheap but this doesn't. It has retained its shine and customers comment on it. We have not seen anything as nice in other restaurants."

WMF's sales and marketing manager, Maggie Walker, says that the Bistro and Flair designs, both introduced in the past two years, have become best-sellers, along with Baguette. "These patterns meet the fashion for plain, clean, elegant lines," she says. "Theatrical designs such as Kings are waning, and the ornate handles collect grease so they're uncomfortable for customers to hold. Our patterns are large and suitable for big place settings."

Baguette's large size was the reason Pierre Condu chose it for L'Odéon, his 220-cover London restaurant. "It matches our big place settings, and feels good and solid in the hand," he says.

London's Bank is one of several contemporary-style restaurants to simplify operational aspects by reducing place settings to four main pieces. General manager Eric Garnier spent about £3,500 on Riflesso, a modern 18/10 stainless steel pattern by Italian firm Sambonet, supplied by La Porcellana. He chose a knife, two forks and a spoon for universal use, plus tea and coffee spoons.

"I've always wanted to do this," he says, "to make life easier. It eliminates the mix-up when you have several sizes. I also like the one-piece knife which won't come loose from the handle after years of use."

Birmingham's four-star Copthorne Millennium turned to Villeroy & Boch for matching cutlery and chinaware in its 50-seat Goldsmiths à la carte restaurant.

"We wanted a totally co-ordinated tabletop that also made a statement of high quality," says deputy general manager Tim Churchman. Designed by Villeroy & Boch, the tabletop combines Bourgogne, a modern stainless steel pattern, with Smeraldo Gold china.

"It attracts a lot of attention from customers," adds Churchman, who plans to extend the concept throughout the hotel.

Villeroy & Boch's sales and marketing manager, Grant Clewes Garner, claims that his is virtually the only company to provide a completely co-ordinated service, with all products being visibly hallmarked "to add value for customers". The company's six cutlery patterns in 18/10 stainless steel are also available in silver plate to order.

"A lot of people are upgrading at the moment and customer preferences are for high-quality stainless steel because of the convenience. Silver plate is declining," says Clewes Garner.

For the vast majority of caterers, price rather than design and quality is the deciding factor when purchasing cutlery, particularly as replacements are high due to so-called "shrinkage". Therefore, there is little movement on the design front, styles being either extremely plain and basic or the long-standing Sheffield parish patterns.

Lancaster Cutlery's managing director, John Emanuel, advises handling and checking inexpensive cutlery before making a purchase, as quality varies enormously. "The cheaper the stainless steel, the thinner it is," he says.

Lancaster offers five Sheffield parish patterns complying with British Standards for stainless steel imports, plus a basic design at a third of the price of restaurant cutlery - this sells in huge quantities.

When choosing new cutlery, Emanuel says that caterers currently prefer the plainer Sheffield patterns, such as Harley and Bead, though sales of Kings, popular 20 years ago, remain high owing to replacement buying.

Like other suppliers at this end of the market, he carries huge stocks - 100 tonnes - and offers next-day delivery, a service that caterers count on for last-minute replacements.