How catering equipment suppliers win new restaurant kitchens

Some of the equipment a new kitchen buys is decided before the venue registers, and much of it is decided after. The big items, such as the range, extraction and walk-in cold room, are usually specified during the fit-out. The rest stays open until opening week and beyond: smaller refrigeration, dishwashers and glasswashers, leasing, and above all the service and maintenance contracts. A catering equipment supplier that arrives at registration can still win the second set, and the long-term service relationship that comes with it.

When the decision gets made

What's still open at registration

• Service and maintenance contracts. A commercial kitchen depends on its refrigeration and dishwashing working every day. A planned maintenance contract, with a fast call-out, is easier to sell before the first breakdown than after.
• Gas safety. In a restaurant, work on gas fittings must be done by a Gas Safe registered engineer, and the employer must keep appliances and flues maintained. A supplier with Gas Safe engineers can offer the checks a new kitchen will need.
• Leasing and finance. New owners are often short of cash by the end of the fit-out. Lease or rental terms on dishwashers, glasswashers, ice machines and refrigeration can win a deal that a cash price wouldn't.
• The missing pieces. Blast chillers, prep fridges, extra shelving and small equipment get added once the menu is tested.

Who you're talking to

• Owners and head chefs of independents. The owner signs; the chef often chooses the kit. Talk to both.
• Some new registrations are takeovers. When someone takes over an existing restaurant, they often inherit the kitchen and need it serviced, repaired or partly replaced, not refitted. These sites need a different offer.
• Chains buy centrally. Their equipment and service contracts are usually set at group level.

Where new sites show up

• The council food register. Almost every new food business appears here at least 28 days before trading, which is the earliest public record of most sites. It isn't a list of what's new, though: it's split across more than 350 councils and mixes restaurants with childminders and care homes. Our guide on finding newly opened restaurants explains why it's hard to use directly.
• Kitchen designers and shopfitters. They know about sites earliest, but they usually have their own preferred suppliers.
• Planning applications for extraction flues. They show some new kitchens months ahead, but miss sites that already have extraction.

What OpenSoon gives you

OpenSoon checks every UK council register daily. Every Monday it sends the food businesses that registered, opened or closed that week. For catering equipment suppliers, the useful fields are:

• Registration-stage venues, while the second-tier kit and service contracts are still open.
• Venue type, and cuisine where we can tell it, to match the equipment: a pizzeria, a Chinese takeaway and a café need different things.
• Any other food business at the same address. That separates a takeover with an existing kitchen from a new fit-out.
• Independent or chain, so you skip sites that buy centrally.

Closures are in the same file, and they're a source of used equipment to buy and refurbish. See what the file contains for catering equipment suppliers.

How to approach a new kitchen

In person, during the fit-out or the week before opening. Bring a planned maintenance offer and your call-out times, and ask what's still missing from the kitchen.

By post, to the venue's address:

Congratulations on your new [restaurant] on [street]. If your refrigeration, dishwasher or gas equipment still needs a service contract, or you're still sourcing kit, we can help before you open: planned maintenance, call-outs within [hours], and lease terms on dishwashers and refrigeration. Call me on [number], or I'll call in during the week of [date].

By phone, once you have a number. Check it against both the TPS and the CTPS first.

By email, only to limited companies and LLPs, or to anyone who has given consent. That's the PECR rule for marketing emails.

Three mistakes

1. Pitching a full kitchen at registration. The main cooking line is usually bought by then. Lead with service contracts, leasing and the missing pieces.
2. Treating a takeover like a new build. A new owner of an existing restaurant needs repairs, servicing and selective replacement. Check whether there was a food business at the address before.
3. Disappearing after the sale. The first breakdown decides who gets the next five years of work. Book the first service visit when you deliver.