Acme began supplying catering equipment to businesses in the late 1970’s. This was largely in demand to an increase in drinking and dining out, with the British public enjoying more and more time in pubs, with drinks and basic meals becoming popular. It got to the point in 1981 where Acme realised that our catering equipment business required its own division. Our teams were receiving high-levels of catering related calls and we needed a catering department, with engineers, vans and specialist training. So, amongst others, in-came our first ever catering engineer: Graham Morris. After nearly 40 years of service, Graham still works for Acme today, but has progressed onto becoming Acme’s Sales Manager. Graham deals with some of our most important accounts and many customers reading this will recognise his name, either through their dealings with him during his time as an engineer, or during his time in sales.
Graham was closely followed by Andy Threlfall, another long-serving member of staff who has now progressed into Technical Manager for the wider group. Andy quickly became Acme’s centre of technical knowledge, with Acme’s catering department building around him. He was also our first gas-qualified engineer, became our resident ‘microwave expert’ (microwaves weren’t as disposable back then!), and achieved Acme’s first NICEIC & BSI/ISO qualifications. Andy now leads technical operations throughout the group, managing relationships with manufacturers throughout Europe & China.
Acme were an early adopter and soon established franchises with leading brands such as Phillips and Whirlpool, having either regional or national exclusivity for sales. We helped bring various products to market and this exclusivity gave us further national growth, with calls coming in nationwide for servicing, supply and installations.
Our catering division has grown from strength to strength, becoming the 24/7/365, award-winning department that it is today. Find out more about our catering installs and catering service.
