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The front of a Dobbies Garden Centres store. The store is panelled in an oak wood with a large Dobbies Garden Centres logo on the front. It is a sunny day with blue skies.

Dobbies Garden Centres Smart-Enabled Rental Refrigeration

For 150 years, Dobbies has stood for quality horticulture, holding their position as a market leader in Garden Chains across the UK. With over 3,800 colleagues in 77 stores, Dobbies are a household brand providing garden furniture, gardening equipment, outdoor living and home furniture. The organisation have a long commitment to sustainability with a focus on their products, recycling and initiatives within their stores.

567

Smart-enabled Refrigeration Assets

24/7/365

Refrigeration Monitoring

£787.11

Annual Average Saving per Cabinet

£417,120

Total Savings

The front of a Dobbies Garden Centres store. The store has light panelling above a glass store front and a green metal roof. It is a sunny day with partial cloud.

Challenges Dobbies were facing

Dobbies needed new refrigeration assets to support a fresh food offering but sought a flexible, sustainable solution to avoid high upfront CapEx investment.

Key challenges included:

  • Minimising CapEx – Sourcing refrigeration without significant upfront costs.
  • Aligning with sustainability goals – Introducing energy-efficient assets to limit environmental impact.
  • Reducing OpEx – Cutting operational costs to maximise store profitability and future growth.
  • Improving asset visibility – Gaining full 360° oversight of performance and maintenance.
  • Enhancing real-time monitoring – Expanding data insights across stores and the wider estate.

Dobbies needed an innovative approach to refrigeration—one that balanced cost, sustainability, and efficiency.

An elderly lady and a middle aged woman browsing plants in a garden centre. They are both smiling and touching the plants as they browse.

The Solution

Working with Rental+ and LoweConex, Dobbies initially rented 567 refrigeration cabinets and walk-in coldrooms as SMART Enabled:

  • No-CapEx Solution: Dobbies rented 567 SMART-enabled refrigeration cabinets and walk-in cold rooms through Rental+ and LoweConex, avoiding upfront capital investment while optimising OpEx.
  • Seamless Deployment: Rental+ supplied and delivered all units, pre-installed with LoweConex SMART technology for immediate integration.
  • Energy Optimisation: LoweConex monitors performance, standardising setpoint control and enabling remote switch-offs for non-perishable units to reduce energy consumption.
  • Proactive Fault Detection: 24/7/365 monitoring provides instant fault alerts, allowing Dobbies to address issues before they escalate.
  • Efficient Maintenance Management: LoweConex coordinates with Rental+ maintenance teams to handle repairs, minimising operational and facility costs.

"Procuring SMART Enabled Rental refrigeration from Rental+ and LoweConex has transformed the impact on our estate energy and maintenance efforts. The combined CapEx and Software offering provides us not only with the physical assets we require for our stores, but complete and ongoing visibility in to the performance of those assets and reliable maintenance services should they be required."

Michael Brooks

Head of Construction and Maintenance

Additional Resources