Tag Archives: service
04 Oct |
Forward Planning |
The autumn equinox has passed and the morning mists have appeared with crisper mornings. We know for certain that autumn has started for a number of reasons. England’s Women have won the Rugby World Cup in front of a celebrating crowd of 82,000, after a year’s plus worth of preparation.
The political party conference season has begun. Although it’s fair to say that planning on these has been already variable. This is the norm!
And the ultimate reason is, of course, because this is AC Services blog reminding our catering colleagues to start planning for the winter equinox celebrations. This equinox is of course better known as Christmas and New Year.
Never too early
We know for some that the summer season has barely closed. For those in university towns, Freshers Weeks are in full swing. For them, it’s the chance to make a good impression to last over the year or three to come. And yes, there are many significant event days in-between now and December, nationally and locally which should be celebrated. But for many of our clients, in these uncertain times, Christmas is the key time to make cashflow. So they can last the difficult winter months until the spring equinox or Easter.
Many know that Christmas is a few days after the actual equinox and was transplanted onto an existing day of celebrations. At this point the ancient world could see the lengthening of days and knew that the crop-growing times would come again.
What and when to plan
Amongst the myriad of other plans that will need to be made, those for your Rational ovens are fairly simple:
- In early October, check when all your machines were lasted serviced. If some time has passed since your Rational ovens had their service and you are not on the remote service system; call our team in the office now. We can arrange a mutually sensible date in October or November.
- In late October, review the stocks of your Rational cleaning materials. Check there is enough plus a little more, to get you through November, December and in to early January. Then order what you need from our team.
- In early November, for some, remember that you haven’t done one and two and call our team on 01454 322222 immediately, we’re here to help!
Published Date: 4th October 2025
Category: Blog, Catering Business, Cleaning Products, News
Tags: Catering business, Cleaning Products, Rational Ovens, service
29 Nov |
Countdown to Christmas |
After the year we have had as a country and with the FIFA World Cup due to end literally a week before Christmas; there is no doubt we’re living in very strange and uncertain times. Yet those in the hotel, restaurant, pub, café and farm shop trades know that in order to make money, we need to be prepared to serve demand as it occurs. Hence our Christmas countdown.
Some of that demand is predictable with bookings for Christmas parties and events. While other demand is more ad hoc. It could literally depend on the weather or on the consumer’s feeling of the need to go out. A long run for England or Wales might dampen demand for those premises without television as people stay in; or become a place of escape for those desperately avoiding soccer.
Being Prepared for the Predictable
When demand comes, you’ll want service to function seamlessly from start to finish. For your Rational ovens this means ensuring that you have all the cleaning supplies you could need for the next 6 weeks. Regular cleaning optimises Rational performance and reduces the likelihood of a failure.
Check your cleaning supplies. Order by 2nd December and there is a reasonable chance that we can deliver before Christmas. If you order no later than 10th December and we have it in stock then you will also beat the 10-15% price increase, which Rational has had to bring in globally effective 1st December. Order either online or call the team on 01454 322222.
Being Prepared for the Unpredictable
If you haven’t already booked a Rational service or maintenance visit before the Christmas and New Year break, it’s probably too late. But we’ll happily arrange a date for January for those in our area.
Most oven breakdowns are unpredictable, but often seem to happen at times of peak demand. While many of AC Services Southern staff take a break over Christmas, there is always an engineer on call dealing with whatever crops up.
For ease of contacting us to resolve your breakdown, below are our opening hours:
In all instances, dial 01454 322222 and choose the relevant option.
- Friday 23rd Office closes at 5.00 p.m.
- Saturday 24th Engineer on call for emergencies
- Sunday 25th CHRISTMAS DAY CLOSED
- Monday 26th BOXING DAY CLOSED
- Tuesday 27th Engineer on call for emergencies
- Wednesday 28th Office open 8.30 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Engineers available
- Thursday 29th Office open 8.30 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Engineers available
- Friday 30th Office open 8.30 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Engineers available
- Saturday 31st Engineer on call for emergencies
- Sunday 1st NEW YEARS DAY CLOSED
- Monday 2nd Engineer on call for emergencies
- Tuesday 3rd Normal office hours resume
While we cannot predict the outcome of the football; working with our catering colleagues, we can make the season less stressful and more productive by using our Christmas countdown!
Published Date: 29th November 2022
Category: Blog, Catering Business, Cleaning Products, News, Rational
Tags: AC Services, Catering business, Cleaning Products, Rational Ovens, service, Servicing
27 Sep |
World Cups and Catering Reality |
September has been a month of change and upheaval in the UK. The last quarter of 2022 will present increased challenges to the catering sector. Some are unavoidable. The increases in the costs of food and drink and in energy will not go away. These increase uncertainty on the ‘normal’ Christmas rush. While others provide possible opportunities such as the 4 World Cups.
Energy Costs
The Energy Bill Relief Scheme will fix gas and electricity prices for all firms for six months from 1 October. This provides some relief for businesses on their energy costs but they will still remain very high compared to last year. Now is the time to take those longer-term measures that catering businesses have been putting off. These will pay off in the short and medium term. Consider:
- Using plug appliance monitors to identify the energy vampires in the kitchen and elsewhere
- Using LED lights eg for the floodlights for outside areas where 30-90% savings can be made
- Food prep and storage areas account for 40% of energy use in restaurants. Defrost, maintain and clean fridges and check the door seals for leakages. The same applies for ovens!
The cost of living crisis will make trade more variable. This might mean turning appliances off, rather than just leaving them on standby. And closing off some areas to use heat more effectively.
It’s good to take some learning from the management of the Queue for the lying-in-state. What is key is effective communication so that the public can understand and be prepared.
When I was young and the pub was getting full, the landlady allowed us to use the back bar. She always told us: “the room will take an hour to heat; and mind we turn off the thermostat, the lights and shut the door when we leave, putting our glasses on the bar”. The same applies today: people will respond positively, if told nicely what and why.
World Cup Opportunities?
World Cups take time from the opening matches to the grand finals. Spread over October to November we have:
- In New Zealand, the Women’s Rugby Union
- In England, the Men’s Rugby League
- In Australia, the Men’s Cricket T20.
While on 21st November the Men’s Football World Cup kicks off in Qatar and runs through to December 18th. With England and Wales both in Group B, like the other world cups, the early matches could be useful opportunities for one-off events. Then it may be a case of how far England progress as to what events could be laid on to bring people together profitably. Although for some catering businesses a big football-related event the Sunday before Christmas, would not be ideal!
Catering Business Necessities
At AC Services, we ‘ve had a very busy summer working with catering businesses to make sure their Rational ovens are serviced and ready to deliver. This year more than previous years, it’s important to think early about the end of year demands.
- Calling us in October, means we can schedule a service that’s convenient.
- Ordering your cleaning materials on-line by 1st November, means we can manage our stocks and lead times from Europe and deliver in good time.
- If the unfortunate occurs and you have a breakdown, as always, we’ll get to you as soon as we can so you’re back in service and making money.
Why? Because we want to be still working with as many of our catering colleagues as possible, when the Coronation comes in the summer of 2023; whichever forecast is right.
Published Date: 27th September 2022
Category: Blog, Catering Business, News, Online Sales, Rational
Tags: Catering business, Cleaning Products, Maintenance, service
31 May |
Saving Cash and Service |
With the Jubilee celebrations, you can imagine the week of service phone calls AC Services had last week!
But to be honest being prepared is good. What we’re not looking forward to are the crisis calls during the celebrations. Those times when with the peak number of paying customers, a machine fails.
Sometimes it’s the result of a small fault ignored, that then has expensive consequences. And with everyone trying to save money after Covid, the number of those type of calls is increasing.
Small faults can become big problems
Running a catering business today is stressful enough without people adding to that stress with scare stories. But the ones below are real examples that have happened to catering colleagues recently:
- Door gaskets over time wear or become damaged and so need replacing. Stacking ovens increases the chances of knock-on effects. The top oven leaks from a worn gasket onto the oven below. This takes out the control PCB and other components. Depending on the model, prices for a replacement PCB costs from £1080 upwards; while door gaskets start from £60.
- Another result of worn door gaskets is that steam escapes. One effect of this is the ovens don’t cook correctly interrupting the smooth flow of service. Another is putting the oven on overnight clean, can end up coming back to a flooded floor.
- Steam can cause no end of damage to various components and PCBs. An easy way in is through the overlooked cracked glass on a light bulb fitting. Or it could be a steam or drain hose failing that takes out the fan motor starting at £560.
Servicing is the cost-saving answer
Staying in business is about balancing cost with risk. Regular Rational servicing reduces the risks of fault repairs in mid-service that create lost revenue and unhappy customers. Don’t let the maintenance niggle grow into a costly fault from lack of servicing.
When servicing, we check multiple parts. To see what we cover please check out our May 2022 service checklist. A booked service call allows us to spend up to 2 hours on your oven. Servicing prices start from £195 plus VAT, dependant on model and avoids potential untimely costly repairs.
After the weekend is over, just check when you last had your Rational ovens serviced or whether there is a small fault that needs fixing. Then give our friendly team a call on 01454 322222.
Published Date: 31st May 2022
Category: Blog, Catering Business, News, Rational, Service plan
Tags: Maintenance, service, Servicing
26 Nov |
Last Service Call for Christmas |
In the good old days, we used to all be aware of the number of shopping days till Christmas. But now every day is a shopping day. On-line and in the real world, we’re able to get most things within 24 hours of ordering them. Increasingly we have become reliant upon that.
Problems arise when that last-minute expectation cannot be met for perfectly valid reasons. Like a finite number of service engineers and everyone suddenly needing their expertise. This is the problem we face every year at AC Services Southern; when catering businesses suddenly realise in December they need their Rational oven servicing before peak Christmas use.
Black Friday Reminder
Black Friday sales seem to be launched earlier each year. One UK retailer started theirs in October this year! Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving, which is the last Thursday in November. Thanksgiving is the big American turkey dinner with all the trimmings followed by pumpkin pie for the whole family; while Black Friday signifies the start of the countdown to Christmas not the biggest sales.
Indeed it’s called Black Friday from all the heavy and disruptive vehicle and pedestrian traffic. This caused gridlock on the streets of Philadelphia, as the whole family went shopping on their free day. It sounds a bit like a cross between a Boxing Day walk and the start of New Year sales!
For AC Services, it’s almost become a tradition that on the Tuesday nearest Thanksgiving, we blog our gentle reminder to Rational oven users in South West England and South Wales. This is to not delay and book your pre-Christmas Rational service today on 01454 322 222.
This way both of us can tick your equipment off our to do list early and concentrate on the real Christmas dramas later in December. We can guarantee that up until Christmas Eve, our engineers will be working flat out to cope with the inevitable panicked last-minute rush of breakdowns and servicing!
Buy On-line
Now is also a good time to check that you have all the cleaning products you need to ensure that your Rational ovens continue to function at their highest efficiency. Rational Self-Cooking-Centers have automatic cleaning programmes built into their software. When used with the right cleaning materials you get cosmetic and hygienic cleanliness.
Our on-line shop enables you to purchase these at whatever time of day you remember or have free in the forthcoming rush. But please be aware as these are delivered by delivery firms and they may be affected by their delays caused by volume of parcels and weather. Again earlier purchase enables greater peace of mind.
Published Date: 26th November 2019
Category: Catering Business, Cleaning Products, News, Ovens, Rational, Self Cooking Centre, Service plan
Tags: AC Services, Cleaning Products, Rational Ovens, service
05 Nov |
Don’t Delay Service Today |
We were rather hoping to bring good news this week, if not about Brexit then about the Rugby World Cup. Instead, we have a runners-up medal and a delay. But fear not, we also have a pre-Christmas general election to look forward to.
And unless you have taken a break from reality this weekend, you will notice that the Christmas and New Year countdown is beginning in earnest.
It’s time to start planning and where better than the annual service for your Rational appliances.
Spiralling Costs
There are two issues for all catering businesses to remember:
- you want to keep your oven in pristine condition for maximum and reliable performance.
- you don’t want to spend any more money over the festive period than you have already budgeted for.
The cost element can be far-reaching. It’s not just the expense in downtime if you have an oven failure, but also the cost of calling out an engineer if you don’t have a contract in place. Emergency call outs for one of AC Services’ engineers can be 1.5 times or double the normal rate if it has to be the weekend.
Not having a service contract is not cost efficient. Servicing is the key to optimum performance. Here at AC Services, we constantly reiterate this point. Simply put, don’t delay service today!
As an example, we had a customer last Friday with a problem. Unfortunately, the oven had not been serviced for a few years and as we couldn’t get to them on Friday, we dispatched an engineer on Saturday. The bill for an out-of-hours call out an unwelcome £500. A problem with the steam hose and subsequently the drain hose affected the cleanjet pump. This expensive crisis could have easily been averted with a service, which would have pinpointed any problem with the steam hose.
Don’t Delay Service Today
Helen Hagger, MD of ACS offers some friendly advice. “Even though some ovens may still be in warranty, you should still organise a twice-yearly service because we know from experience that a lot can go wrong in six months,” she explains. “We often see where one small thing goes wrong, if it is not put right, it has a knock-on effect. Don’t forget that our engineers have immediate access to the majority of parts which minimises any delay. It’s all about peace of mind and pre-empting potential problems.”
For further details and a no obligation quote for your Rational oven maintenance contract telephone 01454 322222 or email us today on service@acservicessouthern.co.uk.
Published Date: 5th November 2019
Category: Blog, News, Ovens, Rational, Service plan
Tags: AC Services, service, Servicing
23 Jul |
Regional Food News Round-up |
The summer has arrived in style, crowning the England cricket team champions of the world in what must be the most nerve-racking and exciting sporting final ever broadcast. The subsequent celebrations involved food and drink galore, which leads nicely on to our latest regional round-up of all things to be eaten and drunk.
First, keep an eye on social media as Cardiff is getting ready to host its month-long street food celebration with the Summer Feastival returning for summer 2019. Last year, a host of street food traders took over Sophia Gardens. This year, it will be held at City Hall Lawns from Saturday, August 10 until Sunday, September 8. It’s free entry to the festival featuring a changing line-up of different street food traders from across Wales and the South West. A stage will feature live music performances.
South West Business Booming
In the year ending March 2019, HMRC has reported that businesses in the South West exported more than £850m of locally produced food and drink with a surge in trading with Singapore, growing by 31%. Overseas sales of drinks from this region showed the largest growth over the period, increasing by 17% to reach more than £134m. Food Minister David Rutley said, “it is fantastic to see the growing appetite for the South West’s quality produce in markets such as France, Spain and Singapore.” In the first three months of 2019 the nation’s food and drink exports were £5.7B.
There’s a new scheme taking place in Bristol this summer. Some of city’s restaurants and cafes are serving green-inspired dishes to support food redistribution charity, FareShare South West’s #ActiveAteBristol campaign. The campaign’s aim for 2019 is to provide over 40,000 meals to children at projects and holiday clubs throughout Bristol during the long summer holidays.
School food support stops in the holidays and the charity wants all children to eat properly over the six-week break. By ordering a dish inspired by the green in FareShare’s logo at a partaking cafe or restaurant; a donation will be made to FareShare South West. The scheme runs from July 19 to September 1.
Wales Does Well
The Development Bank of Wales attended the Royal Welsh Show last week, Europe’s largest agricultural show. The Development Bank has a range of funds available to help all sectors including farming, tourism, retail, and food and drink. The fund’s key aim is to finance tourism projects, which have the opportunity to create positive impact on growing the sector and Welsh economy. In the last financial year the Development Bank supported Welsh businesses with 220 micro loans.
The show saw Welsh food and drink business support programme, Cywain, celebrating a decade of nurturing talent in the sector by showcasing some of the new enterprises. Cywain guides and encourages small food and drink businesses. Support is achieved through packages of business support targeted to individual requirements. These include expert advice and mentoring, product development, networking, clustering, and test trading and market opportunities.
AC Services News
At AC Services our new Engineer Steve Miles joined us in March and attended Rational’s 3 Day training in Luton in April. He continued his side-by-side training with our two Senior engineers and is now out in his own van helping customers.
Helen commented: “Steve is doing extremely well helping our full range of customers big and small, old and new with their Rational oven breakdowns, service and installations. It is great to have him in our team”
Published Date: 23rd July 2019
Category: News
Tags: AC Services, Installation, monthly news, Ovens, service
13 Nov |
Christmas Catastrophe or Planned Perfection |
The countdown is on. We’ve had Halloween and Armistice Day, not to mention a mid-term election in America plus a spate of excellent TV dramas, so now thoughts turn to the Christmas season.
When does the party season start for you? And when does it finish? New Year’s Day? What’s on all the menus? Turkey? Goose? Beef? Vegan platters? These are all pressing decisions! And let’s not forget the most important one – is your Rational oven Christmas-ready?
For those in catering, the oven is the most important gift over the festive season. If it breaks down, no amount of batteries or prayers will put it right. And few will be willing to sacrifice their own Christmas spirit to rush over to fix it.
There you have it, best case scenario – Christmas dinner ruined. Worst case scenario – frustrated and angry diners, potential court cases and an establishment with a very bad reputation. For restaurants and eateries who are planning to serve sumptuous banquets on and before the day, this could be catastrophic.
There is a solution: get your oven serviced now. Don’t wait for December, call AC Services (Southern) and avoid any last minute rush. We can guarantee that up until Christmas Eve, our engineers will be working flat out to cope with the inevitable panicked last minute rush!
Moreover, why not consider setting up a regular contract so that you can have peace of mind that your oven is looked after all year round? We have a number of options that suit both budget and business.
Value for money
What will you get for your money? Typically engineers will sort any of those annoying little faults that can compromise performance, if left unchecked. We keep our vans fully stocked so we can deliver a fix on the first visit in more than 95% of call-outs whilst we are with you.
Servicing comprises:
- function testing and commissioning of elements
- checking the operational mode of water, gas and electrical connections
- testing electrical components, gas specific parts and steam generation.
You don’t even have to fret about forgetting the date of your scheduled Rational oven service. Every customer who gets their oven serviced will be issued with a reminder the month before it is due next year. So there’s no reason for you to conveniently forget!
Order Now
Finally, make sure that you have plenty of oven cleaning materials in stock. Rational Self-Cooking-Centers have automatic cleaning programmes built into their software. When used with the right cleaning materials you get cosmetic and hygienic cleanliness.
Be prepared and make sure your Rational oven is in working order for Christmas service. Call us now and we can calmly talk you through the options available on 01454 322 222. Then you’ll have peace of mind that the Christmas season will go ahead as planned.
Published Date: 13th November 2018
Category: Blog, Catering Business, Cleaning, Ovens, Rational, Self Cooking Centre, Service plan
Tags: Rational Ovens, SelfCookingCenter®, service, Servicing
16 Jan |
Seize the Day! Enjoy 2018 |
Firstly we would like to wish all of our customers the greetings of the season. Let’s hope that 2018 is prosperous and profitable for all.
We are now back at work having had a busy but successful Christmas period. Although we had plenty of call-outs, no client had to take the drastic step of cancelling bookings due to an inoperable oven!
However, there were numerous calls to us regarding last minute breakdowns preceding and following Christmas. The majority of these calls were for replacement parts: luckily all of our engineers carry the necessary parts so the majority of ovens were fixed quickly and efficiently.
New Year New Start
The message this week is simple – New Year, new start so get your ovens serviced now. Although we obviously coped with the inevitable last minute rush before the end of last year, it makes better sense to arrange a service package with us. Customers that do find it suits everyone’s calendars and budgets.
A Rational Oven service starts from £185 plus VAT depending on model and age. During the visit we will sort any of those annoying little faults that, left unchecked can compromise performance. Remember that our policy is to keep our vans fully stocked so we can deliver a fix on the first visit in more than 95% of call-outs whilst we are with you.
Servicing comprises:
- function testing and commissioning of elements,
- checking the operational mode of water, gas and electrical connections,
- testing electrical components, gas specific parts and steam generation.
Every part of the oven is tested and checked for total peace of mind and should any faults be detected, then they will be dealt with as a priority.
And don’t worry about forgetting the date of your scheduled Rational oven service. Every customer who gets their oven serviced will get a reminder the month before it is due next year. We prefer not to give you any excuse to forget!
Coming Up Fast
The next three months will see some significant annual events loved by the catering industry. Valentine’s Day is the major event of February followed swiftly by Mother’s Day then Easter. Before we know it, silly season including the FIFA World Cup will be upon us.
So take advantage of the down season and book a service with us today. Don’t procrastinate!
Published Date: 16th January 2018
Category: Blog, News, Service plan
Tags: Rational Ovens, service, Servicing
05 Dec |
Christmas 2017 Opening Hours |
We are now into December and coming to the end of an astonishing year in history. Changes are afoot which will affect us all but before anything is finalised, we have Christmas to look forward to.
Hopefully, you will have ordered the necessary cleaning accessories and have had your oven checked over before the holidays begin.
But rest assured that although we are closed on the key dates, we will have engineers on call on the days in between.
There are a few simple tips to help you look after your oven and ensure that it is running to its maximum capacity. Have a look here for a list of useful tips for cleaning and maintenance.
AC Services Christmas 2017 Opening Times
Here are AC Services Christmas 2017 opening times:
- Thursday 21st December – normal opening hours – 8.30 a.m. to 5.15 p.m.
- Friday 22nd December – 8.30 a.m. – 4.30 p.m.
- Saturday 23rd December – office closed – Engineer on call for emergencies
- Sunday 24th December – office closed – Engineer on call for emergencies
- Monday 25th December – office closed
- Tuesday 26th December – office closed (can’t face any more turkey)
- Wednesday 27th December – office open 8.30 a.m. – 5 p.m. (engineers available)
- Thursday 28th December – office open 8.30 a.m. – 5 p.m. (engineers available)
- Friday 29th December – office open 8.30 a.m. – 5 p.m. (engineers available)
- Saturday 30th December – office closed – Engineer on call for emergencies
- Sunday 31st December – office closed – Engineer on call for emergencies
- Monday 1st January – office closed.
It’s back to normal working hours on Tuesday 2nd January.
If you have an emergency with your appliance telephone 01454 322222 and press the appropriate option so we can help you as quickly as we can. If you have a non-urgent issue, leave a message for when the office is next open.
REMEMBER
Leave nothing to chance. We understand that you will have a lot to remember for the festive season but don’t forget to order stock parts and cleaning products.
The last date for guaranteed Christmas delivery for an order to be placed is Wednesday 20th December at 5 p.m. We recommend that you CHECK your stock now, to make sure that you have everything you need.
Published Date: 5th December 2017
Category: Blog, Cleaning Products, News, Rational, Service plan
Tags: AC Services, Maintenance, Online Sales, service