Last night temperatures across the country dropped to record lows, with the mercury falling to a bone-chilling -12°C in parts of the UK, and as John Snow once famously said, “winter is coming.” With frost and icy mornings now on the horizon, AM Planned Maintenance has put together its top five preventative maintenance tips to help winter-proof your buildings before the cold really sets in.

Any venue that serves alcohol whether it’s a swanky wine bar, gastro-pub or an east-end battlecruiser all have one thing in common, the need for an alcohol license. With the governments recent commitment to make licensing more straightforward and easier to obtain, we at AMPM thought it was high time to have a look at the impact that reactive and planned maintenance can have on obtaining and keeping an alcohol license.

AM Planned Maintenance completed a full porch roof replacement for a Brighton hotel as part of a planned repair programme of works.

Discover the Pro’s and Con’s of Reactive Maintenance. Learn the key Benefits of Reactive Maintenance, potential risks, and how to balance cost-effective strategies with long-term asset care

At AM Planned Maintenance, we specialise in responding to incidents like this through our reactive maintenance and emergency repair services. Our clients trust us to turn chaos into calm, to restore order after the unexpected. And on this occasion, every minute mattered.

Top 8 Commercial DIY tips – From Maintenance experts AM Planned Maintenance.

At AM Planned Maintenance, we know that keeping professional spaces such as shops, pharmacies, restaurants and pubs in good condition takes constant work. That is our business, after all. But we also understand that not every minor issue needs a professional call-out. Sometimes, a little targeted DIY can solve the problem quickly and save you time and money.

It was just after 4pm on an ordinary afternoon in Wivenhoe when things took a turn that no one could have predicted. A car had mounted the curb and driven straight into the front of the local pharmacy. The impact shattered the glass frontage, sent the door flying into the shop, tore through shelving and brought down part of the wall.

Within minutes, the area was cordoned off, staff were safely evacuated, and the police were on scene. But behind the flashing lights and the broken glass was another urgent problem – how to make the site safe, secure and ready for business again as quickly as possible. That is where we came in.

Last year the UK was hit by a record number of named storms. To be fair, we have only been naming storms for the past decade, but even so, the frequency and intensity are increasing. These storms brought record low temperatures, heavy rain and gale-force winds that tested buildings across the country.

Now, as the nights draw in and the days get shorter, it is the perfect time to start preparing your business for the winter months ahead. At AM Planned Maintenance, we know how important it is to stay one step ahead of the weather, so here are our top tips for protecting your property this storm season:

It may feel early to be thinking about Christmas now, but in hospitality and retail there is no such thing as early, only ready or unprepared. Planned maintenance gives you control and peace of mind, while reactive maintenance leaves you scrambling in the busiest, most profitable weeks of the year.

When you are running one of the busiest restaurants in the UK, a building emergency is never just inconvenient It can put your biggest trading day of the week at risk. That is exactly what happened recently at a carvery we look after in south london, when a small damp patch beneath a booth developed into a major underfloor leak.

Here is how a mixture of Reactive Maintenance and Emergency Maintenance saved the day,

Keeping a building running smoothly isn’t just about fixing things when they break. It’s about planning ahead, spotting problems early, and making sure everything works as it should. At AM Planned Maintenance, we specialise in Reactive and Planned Maintenance to keep buildings safe, efficient, and reliable.

Last week, my wife and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. It was a joyful milestone, a reminder of how quickly time passes and how important it is to pause and reflect on what has been built together. While we are still very much enjoying the happiness and rhythm of married life, the occasion also prompted me to think more broadly about the significance of anniversaries not just in our personal lives, but in our professional ones too.

In 2023 British firefighters responded to a staggering 600,000 incidents across the country including, 138,000 fires. Whilst a majority of these fires occurred in the home a whopping 13,297 took place in commercial and non-residential buildings.

Retail and hospitality premises are among the most at-risk non-residential buildings for fire. Together, they accounted for 2,527 incidents, a significant share of all non-domestic fires. Unfortunately, these fires can be especially intense as retail and hospitality environments are designed to be welcoming and comfortable, but that often means they contain:

With most of our clients based in towns and city centres, it was important for us to find a flexible, portable, yet powerful water jetting system that could clear even the toughest of blockages. After looking around, we decided to go with the Superjet VP35P from Jetchem.com

We’ve now got four units fitted in our fleet, and after three months of solid use, we’ve put them through just about everything. Here’s what our engineers think of this compact but seriously capable bit of kit:

The decline of the Ahwahnee is a stark reminder that property maintenance is about far more than aesthetics. In the absence of proper planning, small issues can escalate into major operational and reputational problems. Relying solely on reactive maintenance often results in higher costs, guest dissatisfaction, and long-term brand damage.

Despite their popularity the average profit margin for a busy pub is a paltry 10-15%, so it’s no surprise that the industry only spends on average 1.5% of turnover on maintenance and repair. With maintenance budgets so tight it’s important to focus on the areas which customers value most. Surprisingly this is not beer selection, price or location but instead according to a recent study Good Food (80%), A Nice Pub Garden (64%) and A Good Atmosphere (60%).

In the article below, I will outline some of major property maintenance issues faced by the industry in these three areas and what can be done to prevent costly maintenance problems.

Reinventing Retail: How Superdrug’s ‘Beauty Playground’ Shows the Power of Customer Experience and Why Property Maintenance Matters.

The modern high street has its fair share of challenges, from ever-growing online competition to shifting shopper habits. But the smartest retailers are proving that with the right approach, physical stores can do more than just survive—they can truly stand out. By investing in clever store design and next-level customer experiences, traditional retail spaces can transform into genuine destinations that people go out of their way to visit.

A perfect example is Superdrug’s latest innovation: the opening of its ‘Beauty Playground’ at Manchester’s Trafford Centre. Following a successful pilot in Rushden Lakes, Superdrug has turned one of its main stores into a lively, interactive beauty hub that prioritises customer experience over traditional transactions

Why Teamwork is the Real Secret Sauce in Reactive Maintenance

Looking for the ultimate hack to make your Property Maintenance truly shine? Spoiler alert: it’s not some shiny new piece of kit, the latest smart scheduling software, or a fancy algorithm that promises the world. The real secret is much simpler — and probably closer than you think.

It’s good old-fashioned teamwork.