14forty, one of the country’s leading facilities management companies and part of Compass Group UK & Ireland, has opened a new restaurant with online retailer, N Brown Group plc, at their Shaw distribution centre in Oldham.

The new restaurant design was an integral part of the recent contract award and over the last few months has been installed in conjunction with Stangard Design Solutions, a leading food and beverage design and build organisation who worked on the initial brief with 14forty.

“One of the key objectives of our market review was how can our facilities services better support our teams on site and be a way of attracting and retaining talent within our business. A key element of this was the restaurant facility at Shaw where we knew we wanted a new offer, but we didn’t know what best in class looked like.

“We challenged the market with an open scope of creating a multifunctional central hub for our colleagues to not only refuel but to relax and collaborate for ad hoc meetings and team huddles.

“The design by 14forty stood out as being forward-thinking, innovative and future-proofed and I’m delighted with the end result.”

Named by N Brown as the Old Mail Room, a nod to the space's former use, it was officially opened by Matt Walls MBE – Olympic gold medallist cyclist, Councillor Howard Sykes and Aly Fadil – Chief People Officer for N Brown.

It features multiple service points including a traditional main counter, a completely self-service retail area with self-checkout, premium and ethical bean to cup coffee and innovative digital media for marketing & promotional activity. Also included are a range of specifically designed seating areas for use throughout the day with connectivity to power and Wi-Fi as well as screens within the booth areas for meetings.

“I’m thrilled with the new facility at Shaw. Being given a blank canvas to work with allowed us to be really creative in our approach whilst capturing the essence of the needs of the users.

“We know in a distribution environment that the four key pillars of a successful restaurant are value for money, quality, speed of service and escapism and the new facility meets all of these for the customers.

“Ensuring that there were multiple service points was a must, so we can cater for those that are time pressured as well as those who want a more traditional dining experience. The use of technology ensures we manage the cost base effectively and increases customer satisfaction with swift service too.

“Another factor we considered was the environment and specifically energy and water consumption of the equipment that was installed, ensuring that we minimise our impact on the environment and contributing to our Net Zero by 2030 commitment, as well as N Brown’s ESG strategy.

“The outcome is truly stunning, and it’s great to hear the positive reception from the teams using it as well as seeing how it’s become a social hub on site for use throughout the day.” 

To learn more about Compass Group UK & Ireland, please visit: https://www.compass-group.co.uk/.