About Us

With over 25 years of combined industry experience, CaterPlan Solutions specialise in providing commercial kitchen design and commercial catering equipment facilities for all areas of the hospitality industry including restaurants, public houses, hotels & cafe's of all sizes. We also provide catering facilities to the public sector and residential care homes.

From individual items of commercial catering equipment to the complete turnkey package from design to conception, including extract and ventilation systems and Altro hygienic wall & floor coverings for the complete commercial kitchen solution.

CaterPlan is based near Basingstoke in Hampshire and supplies commercial catering equipment and commercial kitchen design in Hampshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey & London. Our central location means we can also offer our quality services to businesses located in all the other Southern Counties including the West Country and as far north as the Midlands.

Directors’ Profile

CaterPlan Solutions Limited came to exist as a result of a desire by the founder and Managing Director, Dan Swindells, to fully control his own business and the direction of its development in the commercial catering equipment industry.

Dan Swindells previously worked as Technical / Operations Director with Aberna Ltd after being steadily promoted through the business, having started in the industry as an engineer in 1990. When this business was acquired by a major national company, he was appointed as Operations Director for its Projects Division in Farnborough, Hampshire. Eventually disillusioned by the new owners’ approach to project work, Dan invested in his own company, as a 50% shareholder, in collaboration with a colleague, prior to founding CaterPlan Solutions Limited.

Dan’s personal view: “When you are working as an employee or non-equity director, you have no control over the development of a business. Even a 50% shareholding is not ideal because you are to a large extent constrained by having to compromise or mitigate your ideas. As a majority shareholder you have the authority to develop the business without compromise and decisions can be taken more quickly – all in the interests of achieving customer satisfaction, which is the main focus of CaterPlan Solutions. The minimisation of overhead costs ensures that sales prices are exceptionally competitive. This philosophy, together with many years kitchen design and project management experience, ensures value for money for CaterPlan’s customers

During his many years experience in the commercial catering equipment industry, Dan has built up exceptional experience, initially as an installation and service engineer and subsequently as a project designer, project manager and director/ business manager. Many projects throughout London and the South / South East of England have benefited from Dan’s experience.

The other Directors of the business are Phil Swindells (non-Executive) and Nina Swindells. Phil has 20 years experience as MD of Sauter Automation Ltd, a major multi-national control systems specialist, and in excess of 40 years of experience in the UK construction industry. Nina Swindells has wide experience as a financial administrator in the catering equipment industry and deals with all aspects of the financial management of the business.

All of the Directors are equity stakeholders within CaterPlan Solutions Ltd and are equally committed to its continued competitiveness and success.