Cooking without gas for Hilton at St George’s Park

Our team at Midland Fire was recently contacted by regular client Hilton Hotels to complete a kitchen upgrade, transitioning their St George’s Park hotel away from gas in the kitchen. Despite the challenges that come with working in a live hotel kitchen environment, our experienced team of commercial electricians was ready.

Until then, our involvement at the St George’s Park hotel included a combination of planned and reactive electrical services, carrying out monthly works as requested. On a regular basis, we carry out EICR remedials, electrical fault finding and repair as well as general electrical maintenance and upgrades at the hotel in Burton Upon Trent.

The kitchen upgrade comes at a time when the hospitality industry is starting to get serious about sustainability, and more and more commercial kitchens are taking steps to “degass” their operations. For Hilton at St George’s Park, switching to a no-gas kitchen means a lower carbon footprint, but also reduced energy bills and it’s a positive improvement for the health and safety of their staff.

This project involved building a new fully-electric infrastructure and upgrading the existing 400A electrical supply to a new 630A distribution board. This has given their kitchen an increased capacity, allowing the installation of new pizza ovens, Rational cooking equipment and a modern electric cooker suite. Basically, they wanted a swanky (and efficient) new kitchen, and that’s what they got!

“Although this project presented its challenges, leading the transition away from a gas supplied kitchen suite to an all-electric one at our local Hilton Hotel was incredibly rewarding. It’s inspiring to see local businesses embracing change and taking proactive steps to show environmental responsibility, be more energy efficient and also to future-proof their operations.”

Pete Walker, Midland Fire Engineer

Hilton at St George’s Park, Burton Upon Trent

Located on the edge of the National Forest and part of the FA’s National Football Centre, Hilton at St George’s Park is a luxury destination for football fans and pleasure seekers alike. Think sporty vibes meets chill-out chic, with 228 fully-kitted-out rooms, a spa, gym, indoor pool and on-site restaurant and bar.

This hotel is the Burton Upon Trent branch of the iconic Hilton Hotels & Resorts brand, who position themselves as the global leader in hospitality. As well as placing a high priority on customer satisfaction and the excellence of their service, Hilton is also committed to responsible tourism and positive environmental impact across their operations – values which the degassing of the St George’s Park kitchen fits perfectly in line with.

Hilton at St George’s Park’s kitchen upgrade

The project
We were tasked with an extensive kitchen upgrade which aimed to transition the hotel’s kitchen away from gas, moving to fully electric cooking systems. We worked closely with equipment contractor Fatboys catering, as well as the in-house hotel teams to make sure the upgrade went smoothly.

Key features of the project are as follows:

• Load monitoring: Prior to the upgrade, we conducted power monitoring of the existing kitchen supply over several weeks to verify the need for increased capacity.
• Full electrification: Upgrading the existing 400A electrical supply to a new 630A distribution board for increased capacity, and removing all gas-fuelled equipment.
• Future proofing: Close collaboration with the client ensured that the new electrical infrastructure would accommodate both current requirements and any foreseeable future expansions.
• Specified equipment: All electrical products and brands were supplied as per customer specification.

The challenges
Navigating a live kitchen environment is never an easy task, and the hotel specifically required that we made the smallest possible visual and functional impact on the guest experience during the works. To ensure this, we completed the entire project outside of normal operating hours, avoiding disruption to hotel guests and restaurant operations too.

As mentioned, customer satisfaction is priority #1 for Hilton Hotels, so we held detailed coordination meetings with all contractors, the on-site maintenance team, front-of-house staff and kitchen personnel to make sure we were all on the same page. Communication is always key to the smooth running of any work for our team, and this project is a great example of how we got that right.

Next steps
We will continue to support the team at Hilton at St George’s Park with any planned and reactive electrical small works that they need for the foreseeable future, and hope that our flexibility and conscientiousness will lead to us expanding our expertise to other hotels within the Hilton group. In particular, we’ll be on hand to assist with any maintenance work needed within the kitchen, to make sure everything is functioning correctly and safely for as long as possible.

How a commercial electrician can turn your kitchen gas-free

As we mentioned before, there are many advantages to degassing your commercial kitchen. Not only are there no more open flames or gas leaks to worry about, switching from fossil fuels to renewables will cut your carbon footprint and also your energy bills. Gas-less kitchens are safer environments for catering and hospitality teams and electric cooking equipment is far more efficient, and just as powerful, as gas.

So how can an electrical contractor like Midland Fire help you transition? Here are some of the steps you can expect:

• Assessment: We’ll check your current systems and equipment to see what upgrades you need.
• Wiring upgrade: Electric kitchens need more power, so your electrical supply may need upgrading for increased capacity – this is something we needed to do at Hilton.
• Appliance installation: We’ll safely replace gas installations with induction hobs, electric ovens and other electrical appliances.
• Compliance check: This ensures that your new kitchen meets up-to-date safety rules and regulations.

Looking for a commercial electrician in Staffordshire and the Midlands?

We offer electrical installation, maintenance and commissioning services in Burton Upon Trent and Staffordshire, as well as the surrounding cities, towns and villages across the Midlands.

We’ve been providing reliable commercial electrical services for 25 years and we’re NICEIC approved. We use the latest standards in electrical testing equipment to ensure that your installations meet your legal obligations and are as safe as they can possibly be. At Midland Fire WE PROTECT.

For more information and a free consultation contact Midland Fire Security Services Ltd.