A not-for-profit community food business in Sheffield has been reflecting on its success over the past year and praising the support of an addition to the team that allowed them to meet overwhelming demand.
Regather, in Highfield, has been established for over a decade and is a sustainable, worker-owned community benefit society, run with co-operative values. With the help of its 15 acre market garden, the team sells fruit and vegetable boxes made up of local produce, by local workers.
The team handles hundreds of kilos of fruit and veg a day and they faced many problems carrying produce up and down the stairs of their tight workspace. To cope with a doubling of requests for fruit and veg boxes at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Regather reached out to Derbyshire-based lifting equipment specialists Penny Hydraulics for help.
Penny Hydraulics assessed the workspace and within 4 weeks of agreeing the plans, they installed a MezzLight 250kg Goods Lift which transformed the way Regather worked and served the people of Sheffield during the lockdown. With the help of the lift, they can deliver to approximately 700 households a week, which was unachievable before.
Gareth Roberts, Business Development Manager at Regather, commented:
“It has been an incredibly challenging year and one we couldn’t have faced without the efforts of everybody in our team.
“The addition of our goods lift was a life saver and helped us cope with a 100% increase in demand – we really appreciate the support of Penny Hydraulics, who have helped us become more productive as a team.
Richard Short, Sales and Marketing Director at Penny Hydraulics, commented:
“We are delighted to see the impact that our goods lift has had on the Regather team and we wish them every success as they continue to grow and provide an excellent service to South Yorkshire.”
