Behind the badge: Parry

29 November 2004 by
Behind the badge: Parry

Parry is a name in catering equipment which has gained a solid reputation as a manufacturer of light and medium-duty equipment that's no-nonsense in design, easy to use and competitively priced.

Until the last few years that was the market Parry built for, with pubs, small restaurants and hotels as the bedrock of its market. Now it's looking to develop across the whole catering market and expand its international sales, and is already selling in 45 countries. Sixty years after the engineering business was set up by Jack Parry, that focus on the lighter end of the equipment market is changing direction, so that while light- to medium-duty equipment continues to be a hugely important market for Parry, in the last two years the company has begun to address the medium-duty and heavy-duty equipment market.

The future, according to commercial director Peter Eglin, is to develop into a manufacturer that can supply as wide a range of cooking, holding and serving equipment as its customers need. "One reason for launching heavy-duty equipment is that Parry has many customers who have built their businesses up using the brand, and they trust it. As their businesses have got bigger, they need prime cooking equipment built to take hard and heavy use. We don't want loyal customers to switch brands because we can't offer them Parry heavy-duty equipment."

Parry-Plus, which addressed the medium-duty sector, was launched three years ago. This range has gradually built up to take in most items of prime cooking equipment, refrigeration and warewashing. With the prime cooking units, most can be butted up together to form an island suite, either as three or four units fitted against a wall or as a walk-around island.

The company followed up the launch of Parry-Plus with its Paragon range of equipment, designed specifically with deskilled kitchens and hygiene in mind. All equipment labels and decals have been eliminated following the company's investment in a laser marker. This permanently marks the machine so that important information such as temperature settings can't be removed or rubbed off. Etching directly on to the equipment also does away with the need to mark knobs and handles. In the past, markings tended to wear away after prolonged use.

The next generation of Parry equipment is already on the way, the company recently announcing plans to launch a range of heavy-duty equipment early next year. The Ultima series, which is being built and distributed from the company's Derbyshire factory, will initially include 14 products, but over the next two years Parry intends to expand Ultima to include the same wide range of gas and electric products found in the Paragon series.

Ultima equipment will be 700mm deep, manufactured from a higher grade of stainless steel, and feature more robust and powerful components. All equipment will come with a one-year parts and labour warranty, with parts covered for a further year. According to Eglin, solid and consistent growth is the future for Parry Group.

CAPTION: "Parry has many customers who have built their businesses up using the brand, and they trust it"

CAPTION: "The next generation of Parry equipment is already on the way"

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