Case Study: ​Meet Stannah's longest-serving Microlift . . .

What better way to celebrate our 150th anniversary than to track down its longest-serving dumb waiter?

She’s 42 years old and still helping to feed students at St Leonards-Mayfield, a leading Catholic independent boarding and day school in Sussex.

Installed in 1975, this not-so-dumb waiter provides behind-the-scenes movement of food and tableware between the ground-floor kitchen and 1st-floor refectory in this Grade I listed school lauded for its catering by celebrity chef, restaurateur and media personality, Jamie Oliver: “I can’t help you – your dinners are superb!”

The Microlift is so old that records have disappeared. However, seasoned Stannah eyes have tracked her origins: she’s a 50A ‘combination’ food lift, customised to accommodate the individual shaft dimensions. Yes, Stannah could tailor its service lifts to suit customer requirements ‘way back when’.

Peter d’Aguilar, Director of Marketing & Development at the school, comments:

“It was cheering to find that our Stannah Microlift is the longest-serving dumb waiter in the UK; and what a tribute to the local Stannah Lift Services branch for delivering such good lift servicing that we have never had to go elsewhere. We’d be lost without her. Who knows? When this grand old lady finally grinds to a halt – hopefully later than sooner – we might ask Stannah for one of her descendants.”
Peter d’Aguilar, Director of Marketing & Development, St Leonards-Mayfield

This antique Microlift’s long life is down to breeding and being well looked after – a combination of superior design and engineering coupled with the efforts of Stannah Lift Services. Stannah Microlifts installed this service lift in 1975 and it has stayed on a lift maintenance contract with the Orpington branch ever since.

Naturally enough, the signs of wear and tear are there: the cream baked-enamel doors are weathered, and the satin stainless-steel interior, whilst spotlessly clean, houses a shelf bowed by years of service. But this indomitable food lift wears her duty badges with pride.

Importantly, do Stannah still make them like this? No– they make them even better! More choice, more flexibility; supplied in a structure-supported enclosure for swift, easy installation with minimal Builder’s Work, and customisable as ever. The list of positives is long, so why not read all about our world-famous Microlifts here.