Customer: Coral Bookmakers

Location: Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire

Requirement: Coral Bookmakers rented retail space in a shopping centre owned by Huntingdonshire District Council. When the council decided to demolish the centre and rebuild a brand new complex on the site, it needed to find interim accommodation for its tenant while the work was carried out.

It was essential that a temporary building was supplied on time to meet the Council’s tight timescales. And because the shop would have to provide public access, the building needed to meet Disability Discrimination Act requirements and all permanent building regulations.

Solution: Portakabin was chosen to supply the temporary accommodation for Coral. The key factor was Portakabin’s unique Customer Charter promise to deliver its building on time – enabling it to meet the Council’s building schedule. The building also needed to be robust and secure, while providing a pleasant working environment for staff and customers.

The new building was supplied complete with a security shutter, kitchen area, staff toilets and disabled customer toilet, fire and intruder alarm, access ramp and air conditioning. Once on site, Coral’s shopfitters completed the interior to create a customer environment that reflected the company’s image.

Ken Linje, Engineer at Huntingdonshire District Council, says: “We chose Portakabin because they offered the best contract, and could provide added extras included in the hire price. Portakabin worked hard to ensure the building was delivered on time, and kept us fully up to date with any issues as they developed. The fact that the Portakabin Customer Charter pledge promised to compensate us if they didn’t deliver on time, gave us additional peace of mind. We were very pleased with the excellent service provided by the Hire Centre.”

Adrian Porter, Divisional Building Surveyor at Coral Bookmakers, says: “We are extremely pleased with our temporary building. The size and quality of the accommodation far exceeded our expectations. Staff in the branch were delighted with their new workplace, which they felt was an improvement on their previous premises. We were pleasantly surprised to find that things like air conditioning and alarm systems were supplied, which we had expected to install ourselves. I would be very happy to use Portakabin buildings again, and we may even consider them for some of our smaller outlets in future.”