Lockhart

What Lockhart does

Lockhart Catering Equipment is a UK-based B2B and B2C distributor of commercial catering equipment and supplies, founded in 1970 and operating as a division of Bunzl UK Ltd (itself part of the London-listed multinational distribution group Bunzl). The company runs an e-commerce platform at lockhart.co.uk with a catalog of over 500 brands across approximately 800 product pages, organised into nine core categories: Tableware & Crockery, Cutlery, Glassware & Barware, Table Service & Buffet, Kitchen Equipment, Clothing & PPE, Cleaning & Safety, Refrigeration, and Catering Appliances. Lockhart also owns and distributes a portfolio of exclusive house brands (Arena, Arctica, Chefmaster, Great White, SuperWHITE, Ariane, Artisan, Astera, Creme, and CCS Aspire) that span tableware, buffet display, refrigeration, and appliances, providing differentiation from third-party brands and supporting margin capture. A London Innovation Centre supports product demonstrations, and the company also hosts industry events including the Catering Innovation Show.

The company serves five primary customer verticals: Hotels & Hospitality (the lead segment), Restaurants & Pubs, Contract Catering, Education, and Residential Care. Revenue is generated through one-time transactional product sales via the e-commerce storefront, with unit pricing ranging from approximately £0.66 (entry-level barware) to over £647 (premium tableware such as Arthur Price EPNS), supplemented by volume discounts for trade accounts, promotional pricing through Mega Deals and Warehouse Clearance, and free next-day delivery on UK orders over £60. Pricing is pay-as-you-go with no subscription or recurring component disclosed. Distribution is exclusively domestic UK via the company's own storefront; there is no public API, no mobile application documented beyond a basic app presence, and no proprietary technology platform beyond standard e-commerce and inventory management systems. Lockhart's competitive positioning rests on catalog breadth, exclusive brand ownership, the backing of the Bunzl distribution group, and brand recognition in the UK hospitality sector.

Name

Lockhart

Legal name

Bunzl UK Ltd

Website

https://lockhart.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1970

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Lockhart Catering Equipment is a UK-based B2B and B2C distributor of commercial catering supplies — tableware, kitchen equipment, refrigeration, and appliances — across 500+ brands, serving hotels, restaurants, contract caterers, education, and care sectors as a division of Bunzl UK Ltd.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Commercial Catering Equipment

NAICS

Commercial and Service Industry Machinery Manufacturing (33331)

SIC

Refrigeration & Service Industry Machinery (3580)

akta.pro primary industry

Contract Foodservice Management (Outsourced Catering) (THAFAIAH)

Keywords

• Catering equipment supplies
• Hospitality supplies
• Commercial kitchen equipment
• Tableware wholesale
• Food service equipment

Headquarters

HQ city

Reading

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Catering Equipment Sales: One-time product sales model for catering equipment, tableware, kitchen appliances, and hospitality supplies. Revenue generated through individual transaction purchases on the e-commerce platform with no recurring subscription component.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Lockhart is a UK-based B2B e-commerce supplier of commercial catering equipment and hospitality supplies. It distributes tableware, cutlery, glassware, kitchen equipment, refrigeration, catering appliances, clothing and PPE, and cleaning supplies across 500+ brand lines (including exclusive proprietary brands such as Arena, Arctica, Chefmaster, Great White, and SuperWHITE) to hotels, restaurants, care homes, education facilities, and contract caterers via its lockhart.co.uk storefront with free next-day delivery on orders over £60.

Product overview

Lockhart Catering Equipment operates as a B2B e-commerce platform specializing in commercial catering equipment supplies for the UK hospitality industry. The offering is a diversified portfolio of product categories rather than a unified software platform. Core categories include Tableware & Crockery, Cutlery, Glassware & Barware, Table Service & Buffet, Kitchen Equipment, Clothing & PPE, Cleaning & Safety, Refrigeration, and Appliances. The company also offers exclusive sub-brands including Arena (buffet solutions), Arctica (refrigeration), Chefmaster (appliances), CCS Aspire (fine dining), and Great White/SuperWHITE (porcelain). Lockhart is part of Bunzl UK Ltd and features over 500 brands across 800+ pages of products, serving hotels, restaurants, contract catering, healthcare, education, and other hospitality sectors. The business also operates a London Innovation Centre for product demonstrations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Arena: Arena brings together exclusive brands - Podium, Midas, Rafters and Mirage – under a single roof, delivering a full spectrum of buffet solutions customized to fulfill tailored buffet display requirements
• CCS Aspire
• Great White
• SuperWHITE
• Ariane
• Artisan
• Astera
• Creme
• Mirage
• Arctica
• Chefmaster

Products and services

• Tableware & Crockery Comprehensive range of plates, bowls, cups, mugs, saucers, dishes, jugs, platters, trays, ramekins, soup dishes, and tea/coffee pots from brands including Churchill, Steelite, Revol, Denby, Villeroy & Boch, and exclusive brands Ariane, Creme, and Artisan; for hotels, restaurants, pubs, and care facilities.
• Cutlery Wide selection of forks, knives, spoons, and specialty cutlery in 18/0 and 18/10 stainless steel grades from Arthur Price, Amefa, Sambonet, Elia, and exclusive Lockhart Signature Style and Twentyeight lines; for professional food service operations.
• Glassware & Barware Beer glasses, champagne flutes, cocktail glasses, wine glasses, tumblers, plus bar equipment such as bottle openers, corkscrews, ice buckets, measures, and cocktail shakers from Arcoroc, Libbey, and Glacial; for bars, restaurants, and hotels.
• Table Service & Buffet Beverage servers, cake service items, display dishes, chafing dishes, serving utensils, menu covers, display cases, and table accessories; features exclusive Arena brand bringing together Podium, Midas, Rafters, and Mirage sub-lines for buffet display.
• Kitchen Equipment Professional kitchen equipment including chef's knives (Global, Wusthof, Victorinox), cooking and bakeware, food storage containers, gastronorm pans, kitchen utensils, chopping boards, scales, thermometers, and food preparation machines; for professional kitchens.
• Refrigeration Commercial refrigeration equipment including counter fridges, upright fridges, undercounter fridges, freezers, blast chillers, ice machines, bottle coolers, and refrigerated merchandisers; features exclusive Arctica brand with 12kg-per-24-hour ice output machines.
• Catering Appliances Catering appliances including cooking equipment (combi ovens, chargrills, fryers, induction hobs), food preparation machines, beverage machines (coffee machines, juicers), warewashing equipment, trolleys, and fabrication/storage items; includes Chefmaster microwaves with 2-year parts and labour warranty.
• Clothing & PPE Chef's clothing and personal protective equipment including aprons, tabards, footwear, headwear, jackets, trousers, shirts, and PPE items; for hospitality and catering workforce.
• Cleaning & Safety Cleaning supplies and safety equipment including brooms, brushes, mops, cleaning chemicals, gloves, safety equipment, first aid kits, waste management bins, and sanitisation products; for hospitality and catering operations.
• Arena Buffet Solutions Exclusive Lockhart buffet display concept consolidating four sub-brands (Podium, Midas, Rafters, Mirage) to deliver full-spectrum buffet display solutions; for hotels, restaurants, and event caterers.
• CCS Aspire Fine Dining Tableware Premium fine dining tableware from Continental Chef Supplies, featuring high-end presentation pieces for luxury and aspirational hospitality settings.
• Special Offers & Mega Deals Promotional product section featuring overstocked lines, warehouse clearance discounts, and monthly web-exclusive offers on catering equipment from leading UK brands.

Quantifiable outcome

• Free next day delivery on orders over £60

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• BunzlcoreOthersBunzl is the parent company of Lockhart Catering Equipment. Lockhart is a division of Bunzl UK Ltd, an international distribution group.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Nisbets: Nisbets is the UK's largest direct competitor to Lockhart, operating a similar B2B e-commerce platform for catering equipment and supplies across tableware, kitchen, and hospitality categories - serving the same UK customer base of hotels, restaurants, and contract caterers.
• Brakes Group: Brakes Group is one of the UK's largest foodservice distributors with an extensive equipment and supplies offering serving hospitality operators, schools, healthcare, and contract caterers - directly comparable to Lockhart on customer overlap and product breadth.
• Wasserstrom: Wasserstrom is a US restaurant supply distributor offering an extensive multi-brand product range across kitchen, tabletop, and equipment categories to hospitality customers - functionally similar to Lockhart's UK distribution proposition.
• Restaurant Depot: Restaurant Depot operates a membership-based warehouse distribution model for restaurants and foodservice operators in North America, offering equipment, supplies, and food - functioning as a parallel to Lockhart's B2B distribution model with similar customer segments.
• KaTom Restaurant Supply: KaTom is a US-based direct-to-customer distributor of restaurant equipment and supplies operating a similar e-commerce-focused model with broad catalog depth across tableware, kitchen equipment, and smallwares - closely paralleling Lockhart's go-to-market.
• Edward Don & Company: Edward Don is a leading US-based distributor of foodservice equipment, supplies, and tabletop with a similar multi-brand, multi-category distribution model and exclusive-brand portfolio serving hospitality operators.
• Chef's Warehouse: Chef's Warehouse is a US specialty foodservice distributor serving restaurants and hospitality operators with curated kitchen, tabletop, and equipment products - comparable to Lockhart as a specialty B2B hospitality supplier.

Broad incumbents

• Booker Wholesale: Booker Wholesale is a UK cash-and-carry and foodservice distributor (part of Tesco) serving caterers, pubs, and hospitality operators with a broad assortment including non-food catering supplies - a broader grocery-led incumbent with overlapping UK hospitality customers.
• Amazon Business: Amazon Business operates as a broad B2B e-commerce marketplace serving UK hospitality buyers with catering supplies and small kitchen equipment - a much broader incumbent increasingly competing for the same transactional B2B catering procurement spend as Lockhart.
• Bidvest Foodservice: Bidvest Foodservice is a UK-based broad-line foodservice distributor (part of Bidcorp) offering food, equipment, and supplies to hospitality and contract catering customers - a broader incumbent with overlapping customer base and product categories to Lockhart.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/bunzllockhart
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCgQsljuX16dxUTGeGKKVggA
• Facebookfacebook.com/BunzlLockhart
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lockhart-catering-equipment
• Instagraminstagram.com/BunzlLockhart

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Lockhart