May 1994: The Channel Tunnel is officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II and the French president, François Mitterrand.
May 1994: Four Weddings and a Funeral is released.
July 1994: PJ and Duncan get ready to ‘rhumble’! Ant and Dec release their third single, ‘Let’s Get Ready to Rhumble’.
July 1994: Tony Blair is elected as Labour Party leader.
September 1994: German supermarket Lidl opens its first 10 stores in Britain.
November 1994: The first National Lottery draw is held.
But right back in January 1994,
Meiko UK opens its doors!
There are many in our industry who weren’t even born in 1994, many colleagues are sadly no longer with us, and many businesses have come and gone during that time. So, for a business to survive 30 years is no mean feat.
The history of Meiko UK has been well documented, launched by Bill Downie in January 1994 with just 10 employees, in a small unit near Heathrow airport, it is now a multimillion-pound provider of warewashing and food waste management solutions for caters in all sectors of hospitality.
But what has enabled Meiko UK to survive 30 years and grow to be the huge success it is today?
Meiko’s DNA starts from its parent company in Offenburg (now over 95 years old), where Meiko is a foundation company with no shareholders, meaning its profits are reinvested in research, development and training apprentices.
Therefore, Meiko’s sole objective really is to make the world cleaner and environmentally better. This means constantly listening to its customers, changing and adapting to the challenges facing them from decade to decade, whether it be staffing, changing food trends, the economy or the needs of the planet.
This ethos was carried over to Meiko UK and continues today.
It is Meiko’s UK’s staff who make the difference, a number of whom have been with the business since day one. Anyone dealing with Meiko UK, Germany and all the offices around the globe, all say the same, its staff and the way it does things is different, they are a family who really does care.
Yes, Meiko design, develop and manufacture some of the most technically advanced products, all with the needs of the customer and planet in mind, however, “People do business with people”, and whether you are an end user or a partner, Meiko works as part of the team, always ready with help, advice, cost analysis and planning, through to training and full after sales support. We just want it to be right for the customer.
At Meiko UK we could not be prouder to celebrate three decades supporting our industry with innovation and service that genuinely make a difference to people's lives.
Here’s to continuing the legacy we have at Meiko, a way of doing business which survives the test of time. The future of warewashing is in safe hands.