Simmons and Simmons – a world class international law firm – was looking for an energy saving and environmentally friendly vending option to replace all existing machines in its London office. With almost 1,000 employees in its Citypoint Moorgate offices, Simmons & Simmons currently acts for a range of clients including Shell, UBS, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, and the British Government.
Emma McCabe, Client Services Manager at Simmons and Simmons explains: “When looking to change providers the following criteria were key to us: Finding the most environmentally friendly option; having Fairtrade/ethically traded hot drinks and options for these in the can/bottle machines and snack machines; value for money; and personal service. Seymour Valentine was the only company that ticked all these boxes”
Seymour Valentine has installed 13 Westomatic Sigma machines. The Sigma machines are claimed to be 33 per cent more energy efficient than any other machine on the market and, on top of this, Seymour Valentine offered and created a bespoke solution to all Simmons and Simmons requests meaning all the Sigma machines are built individually for them.
The most basic Westomatic machine that Sigma Seymour Valentine supplies has environmentally friendly paperless brewers for coffee and tea, long-life LED lighting instead of fluorescent light tubes; 93 per cent of machine components are sourced in the UK and delivered package-free; and all coffee, tea and chocolate are not only Fairtrade but the large whitener and chocolate canisters mean there is less need for ingredient replenishment.
Emma McCabe’s feedback on the new machines: “We now have a far superior vending offer which is also much more in keeping with our culture and environmental policy. The use of LED lighting, flash cooling technology and the ability to ‘power-down’ the machines between 8pm and 8am the machines are far more energy efficient.”
Perhaps most importantly for such a large scale firm, there are a lot of people with discerning tastes to please. Regarding the final vended product, Emma goes on to say: “The bean to cup and fresh brew tea, with the use of ‘Milfresh’, means that the drink quality is excellent and it is fantastic to have all the options ethically traded as this was not a possibility with our former machines”.
Seymour Valentine has a reputation for meeting the demands of its customers and, as a large independently owned company, is able to put bespoke installations together reflecting the individual needs of the client. Seymour Valentine CEO, Cevat Riza, says: “We are very proud of the work we have done with Simmons and Simmons. It gives great satisfaction to be able to listen to the individual needs of a customer and provide the ideal solution. Having a ‘we can do’ attitude is standing us in great stead in these competitive times and just like our coffee the business is going from strength to strength.”
