A Lift for Community Food Business during Lockdown

Community Food Business, Regather saw demand for the fruit and veg boxes grew during the lockdown earlier this year and so space became a premium. Initially, a marquee was put up to extend space outside the building, but this was not a suitable long term solution.

‘It came to a point where we either needed to move premises or look for other solutions to reconfigure the building’ says Gareth Roberts founder of Regather. ‘Due to the pandemic moving the business was not a viable option. After much consideration, we decided to repurpose the event space upstairs into another working area. The problem then was getting the 600 – 700kg of produce safely between floors’.

Regather only had a very small area for a goods lift to be installed due to the main entrance and a staircase. Goods Lift Design Engineer Umar Lodhi was up to the task and created a MezzLift design that not only fits the space but does not block the entrance to the building when the doors were open. Another challenge faced by both Regather and Penny Hydraulics was the installation of goods lift during the pandemic. Social distancing was adhered to and the lift was able to be installed on-time with little disruption.

Penny Hydraulic’s MezzLight goods lift can safely move up to 250kg of goods between floors, providing Regather with the flexibility to reconfigure their workspace. This has helped the business to grow in line with the increased demand, without the need for downtime or the huge expense of moving.

“From the initial enquiry to on-site construction through to training and handover, the service from Penny Hydraulics was fantastic. Special thanks to the build team for their respect of social distancing measures at this challenging time and especially the Directors for personally supporting a local, not-for-profit social enterprise. I would strongly recommend Penny Hydraulics any time. Thank you!” said Gareth Roberts.