Case study · Hotels
The Yarrow Hotel, Broadstairs
Conference and banqueting kitchen refurbishment for a historic hotel operating within EKC Group's Broadstairs College — cook suite upgrade, Rational iCombi Pro, Williams cold room, delivered in 5 weeks.
Client
The Yarrow Hotel / EKC Group
Location
Broadstairs, Kent
Project value
£50k–£100k
Build time
5 weeks
The brief
A working hotel kitchen that also trains the next generation
The Yarrow Hotel in Broadstairs is a Grade II listed building dating from 1894, now operating within EKC Group's Broadstairs College campus. The conference and banqueting kitchen serves a dual purpose — supporting live hotel and event operations while providing a professional training environment for hospitality students.
The kitchen was approaching ten years old and needed a partial refurbishment to address an inefficient layout, ageing equipment and a cook suite that no longer met the demands of the operation. The brief was to reorganise the space, upgrade the cooking equipment, add cold room capacity, improve air management throughout and deliver all works within a 5-week window without disrupting hotel operations.
What we did
Layout, equipment and services — all in 5 weeks
Layout reorganisation
A hotel kitchen refurbishment Kent for Broadstairs.
Existing storerooms removed and relocated to free up kitchen floor space and improve workflow between prep, cooking and service. A large glass screen added to the cook suite — improving visibility across the kitchen, separating the cooking environment from the service pass, and giving the space a more professional working feel suited to a training hotel.
Cooking equipment upgrade
Falcon cooking suite reconfigured and upgraded across the main cook line. A second Rational 20-grid iCombi Pro combi oven added — increasing batch cooking capacity for conference and banqueting service. Rational combi ovens specified to support both volume production and the precision cooking demonstrations required in a training environment.
Refrigeration and cold storage
Williams cold room installed for bulk refrigerated storage — essential for a hotel kitchen running banqueting covers alongside daily restaurant service. Williams upright refrigeration throughout the kitchen for working cold storage. All refrigeration positioned to support the revised workflow.
Air conditioning
Panasonic split-system air conditioning installed across the ground floor kitchen and first floor pastry kitchen — improving working conditions for staff and students in both spaces. Specified to manage heat load and maintain comfortable working temperatures year-round in a kitchen running at full banqueting capacity.
Electrical, plumbing and fabrication
Full electrical rewire to support the new equipment loads. Plumbing works for the revised cold room and equipment positions. Bespoke stainless steel fabrications including prep runs, gantry and shelving built in-house at our Folkestone workshop. Bioclad hygienic wall cladding and Altro safety flooring throughout. All works carried out by our in-house team — no subcontractors.
Equipment specified
Banqueting and training grade throughout
- Rational iCombi Pro 20-grid — second combi oven, batch cooking and training demonstrations
- Falcon cooking suite — main cook line
- Williams cold room — bulk refrigerated storage
- Williams upright refrigeration — working cold storage
- Panasonic split-system air conditioning — ground and first floor kitchens
- Bioclad UPVC hygienic wall cladding
- Altro safety flooring
- Bespoke stainless steel — prep runs, gantry, shelving
The installation
Inside the refurbished kitchen
Client feedback
What the hotel manager said
Worked with Kent Commercial Kitchens on a refurbishment of our Conference and Banqueting kitchen. I was really impressed with their commitment, the output and the finished job, clear communication at all times whilst working with friendly efficient contractors. Would recommend these guys 10/10.
The outcome
Delivered on time, on a live hotel site
The refurbishment was completed within the 5-week programme without disrupting hotel or college operations. The Yarrow Hotel now has a properly specified conference and banqueting kitchen — improved layout, increased combi oven capacity, reliable cold storage and a better working environment for both the hotel's catering team and EKC Group's hospitality students. Part of our ongoing relationship with EKC Group across multiple Kent sites.
- CEDA Member The Catering Equipment Distributors Association — UK's voice for foodservice equipment specialists.
- ISO 9001 · 14001 · 45001 Certified The only Kent commercial kitchen design-and-install firm certified to all three.
- F-Gas Certified Certified to handle and install refrigerants in commercial refrigeration and cooling equipment.
- Gas Safe Registered All commercial gas installations carried out by Gas Safe registered engineers.
- Part of Advantage Catering Equipment Kent's design, supply and service specialists since 2003.
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