Malmaison, Reading

Project Outline:

All the Malmaison hotels have a story behind them and Reading is no different. The site was originally the Great Western Rail Hotel and has now been transformed by Malmaison into a contemporary hotel whilst at the same time keeping many of the original features.

Phil Shea is projects Director at Vision Commercial Kitchens Ltd

Based in Manchester and has worked in the Industry for many years. He has vast experience in commercial kitchen design and project management as well as implementation of multiple site roll outs.

Can you tell me about Vision Commercial Kitchens Ltd?
Yes — we are based in Manchester and provide full kitchen design, project management, installation as well as a comprehensive after sales service for commercial kitchens. We have a very varied client base which covers a wide range of market sectors including restaurants, hotels, schools, colleges, garden centres and many more. Importantly we are very experienced in working and coordinating with all parties involved in a project ranging from the operator, architect and main contractor to the electrician, plumber and shop fitter.

What was the concept behind Malmaison Reading?
All the Malmaison hotels have a story behind them and Reading is no different. The site was originally the Great Western Rail Hotel and has now been transformed by Malmaison into a contemporary hotel whilst at the same time keeping many of the original features. This particular hotel was a refurbishment project for Vision.

It sounds as though Malmaison are an interesting company to work with, how were Synecore involved?
Malmaison are a very exciting company to work with and we work with them on multiple roll outs, in fact we have worked on all the Malmaison Hotels to date. It is no coincidence that they were voted AA Hotel group of the year as each hotel is completely different and of a very high standard. Synecore did the complete electrical fit out for the hotel kitchen, so every aspect of the electrics.

Working for such a high profile client you must be confident that Synecore can do the job?
I have absolutely no worries when it comes to working with Synecore on the Malmaison hotels. I have worked with Paul Thomas at Synecore now for many years and have every confidence in him and his team. They are a very professional company and work in a very similar way to us which I feel is important when working as closely on projects as we do.

Being a refurbishment project did you come across any problems?
Electrically the whole project was straightforward right up until testing. When we came to testing we discovered that the main contractor had wired the board incorrectly and all the boards had been marked up wrongly. Synecore corrected this in no time despite working under great pressure to very tight deadlines.

So Synecore work to your deadlines?
Yes — usually for a project like this there would be a three week installation period however with Malmaison Reading the whole installation had to be completed within a week so the pressure was really on. Synecore completed on time and to budget despite the time restraints and the testing issues. As a company they just get on with it and they have such a strong technical ability I know I can rely on them.

You are obviously happy working with Synecore so do you have any future projects planned?
Yes as a business we have a solid relationship with Synecore, we know we can rely on them and they know exactly what we are looking for. We have worked with them on a number of Hotel projects now including Malmaison Liverpool which was the first new build Malmaison Hotel. We have a full roll out of Malmaison hotels and will continue to work with Synecore.

Client

Giraffe, Trafford Centre

Budget

£45,000

Phil Shea, Vision Commercial Kitchens,

“I have absolutely no worries when it comes to working with Synecore on the Malmaison hotels. I have worked with Paul Thomas at Synecore now for many years and have every confidence in him and his team. As a company they just get on with it and they have such a strong technical ability I know I can rely on them.”