In February 2022, The UK Met t Office warned the Country of impending Atlantic Storm fronts that were going to hit the UK in the weeks ahead. Impossible to predict the overall impact of these storms, major network Infrastructure providers knew that they would be severe and that damage to the power networks could significantly impact service delivery.
Power outages are a major inconvenience both to the network providers but also to homeowners and members of the public who rely on electricity to power and heat their homes.
The storms were given names, Dudley, Eunice, and Franklin. Instead of somehow personalising them, this somehow made the threat they posed even more real.
On 18th February, following their own threat assessment and state-of-the-art meteorological Forecasting tools, Onsite Catering Solutions, formally Russell Leisure Services, were contacted by UK Power Networks to hold mobile catering units on standby.
The storms hit, and some areas, particularly in the East of England, went days without power due to damaged and downed overhead cables.
On 21st February, they were asked to deploy as many as 18 units per day, covering 85 postcodes and travelling as many as 2,500 miles per day in treacherous conditions.
Over 40,000 meals were served free of charge to members of the public and the UKPN Workforce.
Every day, more than 65 catering packs of bacon were consumed. Over 700 eggs were consumed, 500 muffins and cakes, and 5,000 burgers; 140 catering boxes of chips were used, and 30 joints of pork were roasted to keep everyone fed and happy. Countless, baguettes, bread rolls, and baps were served, and an endless supply of teas, coffees, and hot chocolate.
Every day with no complaints!
Not content with just keeping people fed through Onsite Catering Solutions literally went the extra mile.
- Free phone charging using local generators so that members of the public could stay connected.
- Free Flask fills for takeaway hot drinks.
- Canvassing of the local community so if members of the public couldn’t reach the Catering unit for whatever reason, they went to them.
- Vulnerable people included on Foot, by Taxi or by Uber
- 65 fully trained staff on site each day
- 06:00hrs until Midnight most nights
- Restocking out-of-service hours to ensure continuity of care.
- Multiple daily relocations to ensure maximum coverage area.
This whole enterprise resulted in fantastic feedback both from the public and from UK Power Networks.