Henry Colbeck boosts fleet with three new Supra 750 units

Fish and chip shop supplier Henry Colbeck has taken delivery of three new 26-tonne MAN rigid trucks, each mounted with a Carrier Transicold Supra 750 unit.

The new MAN TGS vehicles join Henry Colbeck’s 33-strong refrigerated fleet, which is split between the company’s Coatbridge site and its main base in Gateshead.

The trucks, which will operate from Coatbridge, replace older vehicles and feature bespoke bodies from Gray & Adams, with separate access points to individual storage sections.

Hugh O’Brien, operations director at Henry Colbeck said consistent performance and reliability along with aftersales support were key to making the order.

“When I joined the company, my main focus was to review and improve efficiencies across the business," he said.

“We were running fridges from a range of manufacturers, which made keeping them all operational complicated and expensive. We took our first Carrier unit in 2013 and haven’t looked back.

“Their impressive reliability has allowed us to consolidate our fleet in Scotland - 12 of the 13 rigids operating out of Coatbridge are now Carrier-cooled, and we’ll be making it 13 as soon as we can.”

The Supra 750 units provide constant airflow to the compartments in the body, independent of engine speed, allowing Henry Colbeck to transport a wide range of chilled or frozen products to fish and chip shops, as well as restaurants, across Scotland.

The new vehicles also feature Carrier Transicold’s DataCOLD 600 temperature recorder, which provides easy access to information on the performance of the units.

“What makes the Supra stand out from the crowd is the level of control it gives us, particularly when it comes to maintaining the integrity of the cold chain. This is something our customers have to prove when they face any health and safety inspections, so having the ability to print the relevant data directly from the unit thanks to the DataCOLD system is superb,” added O’Brien.

The new rigids will be in operation for five years and are expected to clock up around 70,000 miles per year. The Supra units are backed by Carrier Transicold’s everCOLD fixed cost full-service maintenance package, which includes annual temperature control testing and certification, full regulatory checks, and access to the company’s oneCALL 24/7 incident management service.

Fourth-generation family business Henry Colbeck was founded in 1893 and is the oldest fish and chip shop supplier in the UK. The company’s Coatbridge site opened in 1998, allowing Henry Colbeck to supply more than 2,000 customers across the north of England and Scotland.