Night doors

The Green-Door – which is actually blue! - is available for both freezers and chillers, and is the latest innovation from the thermal insulation specialists at Seymour Manufacturing International (SMI).

After years of painstaking research and nearly a decade of stringent tests at sites across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, it is now opening the door to significant financial savings for major retailers.

Green-Door is a more lightweight and user-friendly replacement for the heavy sliding ‘night door’, with the potential to save a considerable amount of energy and physical effort for users.  It uses SMI’s acclaimed Tempro, which remains unchallenged as the world’s thinnest and most thermally-efficient material of its kind.

Andrew Watson, store manager at ASDA Glasshoughton, Castleford, said: “The Green-Door has brought lots of benefits since installing it in place of the old night door. It is much lighter to use – reducing the risk of injury - much easier to clean, and saves us energy and money too. I would have no hesitation in recommending it, particularly in an area where there is a great deal of footfall.”

SMI chairman Brian Seymour explained: “Cheap flip-flap doors have been used in chillers for several years, despite having relatively short lifespans, high maintenance costs and breakage. We researched the real needs of the food industry and targeted economic performance, being user friendly, and longevity. With Green-Door, the aim was to create a quality door that would require little maintenance, was easy to use and saved significant amounts of energy, and carbon.”

SMI has been running low-key trials at a host of supermarkets to test the product’s performance under realistic and gruelling conditions – and the company says it is delighted with the positive feedback.

Mr Seymour said: “Green-Door makes the much-hated supermarket night-door redundant in chillers and freezers, saving capital, maintenance costs, nuisance value and labour. The advantages and savings are enormous. It is easy to use, it saves expensive energy and carbon, it reduces maintenance costs and the need to fit the hated time-wasting, labour-intensive, costly night-door. In fact, when return on investment is considered, the Green-Door could pay for itself on day one, depending upon what size and cost you pay for a night-door. The saving on maintenance and labour can just be treated as a bonus.”

Dave Perry, SMI’s divisional sales manager, added: “Put simply, our Green-Door is a ‘fit and forget’ item which allows easy access for staff, a constant closed-door solution, and is virtually maintenance-free. With a lifespan of many years, it is incredibly cost-efficient in comparison with a standard sliding chiller door. Our first Green-Door set up at a test site in Taunton back in 2009 is still going strong.”

SMI is based on the Stafford Park industrial estate in Telford, Shropshire, and has been saving energy and money for some of the world’s biggest and best-known businesses since the 1980s.

The company’s client list is a who’s who of blue-chip brands both in the UK and abroad, including retailers such as Waitrose, Morrisons, ASDA, Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer, The Co-operative, and Lidl. It also works with the NHS, the Ministry of Defence, and have become a leading thermal insulation supplier for the protection of food, chemicals, agricultural and home delivery products.

For more information please visit: www.seymour-mi.com