Member Article

Ringtons partners with the Freeman Hospital

The Freeman Hospital in Newcastle have partneredl with local tea and coffee merchant Ringtons Beverages to stock its specialist tea, coffee and biscuits.

Ringtons Beverages the food-services arm of the renowned tea and coffee company Ringtons Limited has worked closely with the Freeman Hospital to install a Fairtrade branded self-service unit to provide tea and coffee to visitors, staff and patients.

An annual return in excess of £40k is expected to be yielded after product and equipment costs.

The free-standing tower includes a bean-to-cup coffee machine which uses locally roasted Fairtrade beans and fresh milk to provide drinks.

In addition, the tower offers decaf beans and Fairtrade tea, as well as ancillaries such as sugars and triple walled take-away cups.

The hospital sees thousands of patients every month in its treatment centres, wards, and departments which includes the Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Trials Research Centre, The North East’s Regional Urology Centre and Newcastle Surgical Training Centre.

Head of Ringtons Beverages, Stephen Drysdale, said: “The Ringtons coffee tower is the first one to be installed at the Freeman Hospital and has been commissioned to offer visitors, employees and patients the high quality beverages Ringtons is renowned for, but on the go.

“The Freeman Hospital wanted to offer its visitors beverages at an affordable price of £1.25 – while other providers wanted to charge the hospital a subsidy to sell the drinks at this price, we worked out an agreement with them which meant they only pay for the machine itself and the supplies used which allows them to offer their visitors great value for money and also make a considerable return for the hospital.

“Although Ringtons operates throughout the UK, as a company which originated in the North East, we are hugely supported by our local community and we are delighted to be able to offer hospital visitors and patients a comforting cup of tea or coffee from a brand they recognise and trust.”

Assistant catering manager from the Freeman Hospital, Kevin Potts, said: “With the scale of visitors and patients we see coming through the doors at the Freeman Hospital, there is always demand for hot refreshments at all times of the day.

“We wanted an easy-to-use solution that offered a range of beverages and which could be managed by our existing staff. In addition we wanted to charge a set low price for a drink to make it accessible to all.

“Ringtons Beverages worked with us to develop a solution which didn’t cost us and gave us a great return on the tower which we anticipate will yield over £40k a year based on current use.

“Within just three months we have gone from selling 60 cups a day, to over 180 a day as word has spread through the hospital about the tower and we are even considering installing more towers throughout the site to meet growing demand.

“The take-away tower offers great quality beverages and the flexibility to offer even more of a range of coffees, teas and infusions further down the line.”