Marren is set to celebrate 35 years of business in 2020. We have maintained our position as an independent business thanks to sustained growth and the vision of our Managing Director Bob Clifford.

We are very proud of the pace and manner at which Marren has grown. One of our customers commented, ‘you are the company that works from the cottage”. Perhaps a reflection on the type of business we are, very customer and staff centric. Proud of our very low staff turnover with 25% of the workforce with us for 15 years or more and several for over 20 years.

1985

Ian Marren started the business on Manchester Road in Wollaston.

1990

Moved to a commercial property on Newton Road, Wollaston with Peter Booth as the Director. During this time the number of engineers and staff increased to over 25, serving our increasing customer base. Household names such as Tesco, Travellers Fayre, Greene King and Mitchel & Butler.

1991

Bob Clifford joined the company to establish the sales team and expand the services department. In those days he was tasked with selling microwave ovens. Marren was a relatively small company with just 25 employees. Which meant Bob knew everybody and over time understood every aspect of the business. He learnt about the industry from the ground upwards which is quite a rarity.

1992

Priti Jobanputra (Penny) joined as an account assistant.

1995

Bob Clifford became the Managing Director. The years spent talking to his customers, he knew that to survive Marren needed to diversity. Evolve from a sales business to a service-based company. His vision was to take the company from sales and repairs to a food service specialist.

He wanted Marren to be the ‘go-to’ service specialists in the industry. Experts in accelerated cooking equipment, cook and hold systems as well as Rational combi ovens. This needed dedication, a development plan and investment.

2000

Moved to larger premises in Eastfield Road, Wollaston. As a local employer, many of our staff lived in the village and it was important to remain in this locality. The building provided extensive office space on the first floor and a parts department on the ground floor.

The in-house service department grew significantly. We had to purchase another building across the road to carry out repairs and training. The number of engineers had increased to 50 with over 25 administrative and parts department staff.

2002

Lee Scroxton joined us not long after leaving school, initially as our warehouse assistant but as the department grew he was promoted to Parts Manager and then onto his current position as  Procurement & Logistics Manager.

2008

Apprenticeship scheme launched to help us build our engineer expertise. Kane Needs was the first apprentice and is now our Training Manager.

2010

We had previously sub-contracted in Scotland working closely with Malcolm Skinner and his company CES Microcare. There was a clear need for a base in Scotland, so we purchased the company. Malcolm and his employees were all retained by Marren, bringing with them a wealth of knowledge and expertise.

2011

Malcolm Skinner becomes Operations Director and Priti Jobanputra (Penny) Finance Director.

2012

Nicole Hunt started her career with Marren in 2012 as an office trainee and was quickly promoted to Contracts administrator, followed by Senior Contracts administrator. In recognition of Nicole's hard work and commitment, Nicole was appointed to Service Administration Manager in 2019.

 2017

Unable to find a suitable property in Wollaston, we moved down the road to a new head office in Earls Barton. It was a major move and we couldn’t simply close the office to carry out the necessary work. Staff worked together to ensure continuity of service for our customers, closing the old site at 5 pm Friday and opening at the new one Saturday morning.

2018

Kelly Barrell joins Marren as our Business Development Manager and Stuart Blane as Rational Training Manager, 1 of only 3 in the country.

2019

Marren became an award-winning company with multiple accolades.

  • Catering Insight Service & Maintenance Provider of the Year
  • CESA Training & Development Award
  • FEJ Service & Maintenance Specialist of the Year

2020

Marren launched their first product an own branded Microwave ISM 1800. Focused on delivering a lower cost of ownership to reduce the level of equipment going into landfill.

Continued winning awards across the industry.

  • UK Enterprise Awards Best Commercial Catering Equipment Specialists
  • UK Enterprise Awards Client Service Excellence Award
  • Mitchells & Butlers Contractor of the Year Award

Today Marren is a company with over 70 employees. A new modern head office based in Northamptonshire which is the central operation hub. This includes the operational teams, a dedicated training facility and our renowned spare parts division.

All our engineers are trained and approved to work with specific brands. We insist on a level of expertise to ensure most of our jobs are a ‘first-time fix’. Saving our customers time and money.