Extreme Challenge

Leicester-based movemanSKG recently rose to the challenge to ensure that the refurbishment of a Beefeater pub/restaurant, in Rainham, Kent, was completed, on schedule. The company had just four weeks to specify, design, manufacture and install a disabled access platform lift at the Manor Farm. They achieved the deadline with one day to spare.

The entrance to the restaurant is at the top of a short flight of steps, which would have made it impossible for wheelchair users, and difficult for families with pushchairs, to get in. Mindful of Whitbread's responsibilities under the Disability Discrimination Act, and its willingness to ensure that its excellent facilities are available to everybody, Ian Pool of Architects, Street Cite Associates, determined that a specialist platform lift was the only solution to the access problem.

"The refurbishment at Manor farm had to be completed in a very short space of time." An comments. "Of the platform lift suppliers we contacted, movemanSKG was the only one that committed to meet our deadline. The companies web site is excellent. So when I contacted their sales team, I already had a pretty good idea what was needed. It was a real bonus that their quotation was also the most competitive."

The Companion Extreme, the latest addition to movemanSKG comprehensive platform lift range proved to be the ideal solution. It is specifically designed for outdoor use, being manufactured from weatherproof material throughout. All the structural components are fabricated from a combination hot dip galvanised or powder coated steel and the motor casing and lifting platform are finished in salt water resistant aluminium. The upper and lower access gates are moulded from impact resistant plastic. Extreme's real appeal is that it is genuinely free standing as the power pack and hydraulic drive system are built into the lift structure. With its own base plate, the Extreme will even compensate for uneven ground conditions.

"Throughout the project, movemanSKG team performed excellently." Ian Poole continues. "From the specifying of the correct product to suit the site to confirming delivery details, they kept us constantly appraised of progress. The lift was installed in less than a day in time for Manor Farms reopening. I will have no hesitation in specifying movemanSKG products in the future."

The Extreme is available for travel heights between 500 mm and two metres and has a platform measuring 1420 x 900mm. It has power operated gates, fitted as standard, which means that a wheelchair user can use the lift completely independently. A pressure sensitive plate on the underside of the platform ensures that the lift stops immediately, on contact with any object. Installation is simple. As the lift is a standard, self contained unit, installation is very straightforward.