RDO Doubles Up On Storage Space

RDO, based in Reigate, Surrey, and founded in 1952 by the current family owners, specialises in the supply, both online and in-store, of premium range domestic appliances and the design and installation of beautiful bespoke kitchens. They serve both retail and trade customers alike and have established themselves as one of the largest, most respected and trusted independent retailers of kitchens and appliances in the UK.

When RDO wanted to double their storage capacity in their Salfords based warehouse, they went out to local mezzanine companies for advice and quotes. Having reviewed the proposals they chose HMF to partner with them, in this ambitious project. It was clear to them that HMF understood that it was not just the physical mezzanine installation that was required, but a clear phased installation plan that would be needed to ensure this project would be a success.

The mezzanine would also need to be served by a large goods lift. RDO’s existing goods lift could not be adapted to utilise the additional mezzanine floor level so HMF sourced a new larger lift and importantly, a faster speed goods lift to cope with the bulk movement of cookers and fridges from the ground floor goods in area to serve the 2 mezzanine levels of storage.

The large mezzanine was able to be installed on top of the existing mezzanine as this had originally been designed to be a two-tier floor, with the slab having pad foundations installed to accept the high mezzanine base plate loads. The 780m² mezzanine floor also required full 1 hour fire protection to the steelwork which Hampshire Mezzanine Floors also fitted.

It was clear that HMF needed to drive the whole project due to the phased installation so they also employed an electrical contractor on RDO’s behalf to install new LED energy efficient lighting and emergency lighting and also extended the existing fire alarm system to cover the new mezzanine floor.

Additional staircases and perimeter hand railing were fitted to the new second floor to ensure the required means of escape to comply with Building Regulations were met, with Hampshire Mezzanine administrating a Building Regulations application on the clients behalf.

The goods lift installation was designed to hold 12 appliances in one go and had to be installed at a critical point to enable the old goods lift to be removed and the new lift installed completing over a weekend to minimise disruption.

The project was phased in 5 stages to enable the client to move product into each area as it was completed as they were installing this over a fully working warehouse.

HMF drew up a comprehensive safety plan to ensure that the staff and our contractors were working safely in a very busy environment. The two tier mezzanine project was completed over a 9 week period and completed on time.

“If you’re looking for a new or additional mezzanine floor, these are the people to do it! We had a challenging installation of an additional second floor. The business needed to stay operational throughout the build, so accuracy of the design, build planning and speed of the build itself were crucial to the success of the project. From start to completion (which was 3 days earlier than planned and on budget!) the whole job was executed with professionalism and attention to detail, but unusually these days, with a true sense of the customer comes first! Dan was brilliant, his calm nature and impressive knowledge of his trade made the job go smoothly and without hassle. A huge thanks to the HMF team for a job brilliantly done, thank you!”

R Sargant – Senior Partner at RDO