The stand-out point on the cook line was the Opus 700 (Vortech) fryer, which is a very energy efficient piece of equipment that produces less exhaust gas heat in the kitchen and faster recovery times. Added to that was an option for automatic filtration of oil which, when combined with energy savings, provided payback in nine months. None of these changes resulted in a cost saving on the purchase price - quite the opposite in fact. For example, the fryers we specify cost over three times more than the previous unit, but the key to it is total life cost.

Colin Mackenzie, Head of Corporate Services Procurement, Marston's