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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z This list is in alpha order. There is no index as such - but a highly-arbitrary list of possible subsections may appear in due course. |
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15B Magna Drive
450 Bath Road Tel 0208 757 8650
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The collapse of Gaggia UK, which was greeted with nothing less than shock in the UK coffee trade, was followed very swiftly by something approaching panic – existing users of the machines had nowhere to go for spares or repairs, and those experienced machine repair companies who had been working on Gaggia machines were also left without any support or certain source of spares. There was a fair amount of traffic on the online coffee forums, with people seeking sources of help.
In Ireland, David Lawlor’s company Watermark already specialised in the commercial Gaggia espresso machines used in hospitality and foodservice.
This was a feature which even the former Gaggia UK company had not been able to match, because they had been balancing two trade routes, with the commercial foodservice espresso machines going through one specific supply chain, and domestic espresso machines going a different way into retail stores. By contrast, Watermark had concentrated only on the commercial machines, and thus had built up enough expertise and stocks of the right parts to be able to take over, which Gaggia's new owners asked them to. He undertook to bring a similar level of service to the UK, and very quickly set up a base just outside Slough.
“Our service has 7-day nationwide coverage throughout Ireland, and we offer same-day/next-day service response here,” said Lawlor. “ The speed of our response is dependent on the time of the day the call is logged with us, and the severity of emergency involved. We aim to have a first time fix rate of 98 per cent for all of our calls, and we are currently averaging 98.6 per cent. We also offer a free after-hours telephone helpline to offer assistance in getting a user back up and running, and hopefully help avoid the cost of a call out.
“We have one of the most comprehensive stocks of Gaggia spare parts for commercial machines outside of Gaggia in Italy. If you are involved in servicing Gaggia, please contact us!”
The new UK base was set up with similar objectives.
“We aim to deliver the following,” said Watermark. “A first-time fix for your coffee machine, and a response time of less than five hours for emergency calls. Transparent and cost effective billing. Training and quality control on our work, with each team member having been certified by Watermark and Gaggia, with ongoing certification conditional on regular training and an ongoing review of performance.
“Each member of our team has signed up to a customer charter designed to give our customers the reassurance that their Gaggia coffee machine will be fixed properly and quickly.”
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All high-performance machines have one thing in common, Watermark has remarked - they need looking after! And, David Lawlor has said, the repair engineer can only do his job properly if he understands the situation of the customer, who is a caterer.
“The secret of a successful coffee house is repeat business. Get the same customers in every day and you’re well on your way to success.
“But customers rarely complain - they just go elsewhere So if you serve bad coffee, you’ll soon lose ground to competitors.
“The cost difference in producing a quality coffee and a poor coffee is small. The cost of losing a customer’s business is significantly higher. So if possible, don’t work on a shoestring.
Beware of second-hand machines, which can lead to big service bills, persistent downtime and poor quality coffee, if not dealt with correctly. Get your coffee machine serviced regularly – don’t wait until in stops working.
“Plan to stay in business, plan to keep your customers, plan your maintenance!”
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Watermark also carries out repair work on Rancilio, Swiss Egro, Black and White from Thermoplan, Saeco Idea, Bunnomatic , Astoria, CMA , Elektra and La Marzocco
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at Boughton's Coffee House magazine - the
news magazine for the retail coffee and tea trades. 
David Lawlor