Greater London · Grease filter exchange
Grease filter exchange in Downham, Greater London
Grease filter exchange for businesses, landlords and public buildings in Downham. BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite member, cleaning to BESA TR19® Grease.
- Filters left unwashed on busy weeks
- Gaps where filters have been removed
- Filters so greasy the air can barely pass
Grease filter exchange in Downham
We set up grease filter exchange for kitchens in Downham on a schedule that suits their cooking. The heavier the cooking, the more often filters need changing while a lighter kitchen can go longer. The interval is agreed before the first visit. If you have damaged filters letting grease past and grease dripping from the canopy, we can put it right, from baffle filters, school and hospital kitchens and mesh filters onwards.
Kitchens in Downham, like many across London, can share a building with flats or offices, with the duct running up through shared risers. Grease in a duct like that is a fire risk to the whole building, not just the kitchen, which is why keeping it clean to TR19® matters.
It’s worth checking any contractor’s accreditations. Ours are BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite membership, cleaning to BESA TR19® Grease, plus CHAS, SafeContractor and ISO 9001, with full insurance on top.
- Location
- Downham (BR1, SE6, SE12)
- Wider area
- Greater London
- Paperwork
- Written report with photos
- Price
- Fixed quote, usually within a working day
- Working hours
- Overnight and weekend work, 24/7 emergency callout
- Phone
- 0345 646 2711
- Updated
- 30 October 2026
When to call us in Downham
However long the kitchen cooks each day, the filters see every minute of it. Heavy daily use means fast build-up, so it needs more frequent changes.
If you notice any of these, it’s worth a diagnosis:
- Smoke and heat lingering under the hood
- Filters that leave gaps in the canopy
- Grease building up behind the canopy filters
- Filter washing that keeps being missed
If you run catering at a healthcare site, such as a hospital like Bromley Hospital about 2.1 miles south, the extract may need cleaning more often than a part-time kitchen.
Comparing quotes
- What insurance they carry
- What paperwork you get at the end
- When they can work, and whether that is outside your opening hours
- If they look at the system before pricing
What affects the quote in Downham
The price is fixed before any work begins. It’s based on:
- When the work can happen, such as evenings, overnight or weekends
- Any permits to work or inductions
- What state the system is in
- How big the system is
What you pay reflects the actual work. That’s why every job is surveyed first, and the price is agreed before we start.
Asking for a quote
When you contact us, it’s useful to have:
- The roof, plant room or outside wall the system runs to
- Detail shots of panels, filters and grilles
- When the site is open and when it’s quiet
- Any symptoms, from odd noises to smells or leaks
Quoting starts with a diagnosis, either from photos and details you send or from a site visit. Then we send a fixed price, before we start.
Grease, kitchens and Downham
Food Standards Agency records include about 24 bars, pubs and nightclubs and about 3 hotels, B&Bs and guest houses within roughly a mile and a half of the centre of Downham. Any of them serving cooked food has an extract to keep clean, from canopy to discharge. Food hygiene inspections in Downham are the job of Lewisham council’s environmental health team. They look at how clean the premises and equipment are, and the kitchen extract is part of that. Keeping each certificate and photo report on file helps show the extract is looked after. In London, kitchens are normally cleaned overnight, when the kitchen is closed and loading is easier.
Where a hall near St Barnabas, or anywhere in Downham, hosts lunch clubs or events, its extract gathers grease just as a café’s does. For schools such as Rangefield Primary School, kitchen extract cleaning is typically booked for the holidays, when the canteen is closed.
Downham is about 2 miles north of Bromley, in Greater London. Whether your site is in the middle of Downham or further out, we cover grease filter exchange for every kind of premises, from small sites to large estates. Our Greater London coverage runs to 764 places, and Downham is one of them. For sites nearby, see our London page, about 7 miles away.
Work in BR1, SE6 and SE12 is surveyed, quoted and booked the same way as anywhere else. Grease filter exchange is available to premises on Shaw Road, Arcus Road and Brook Lane and nearby roads. We also cover the places around Downham: Plaistow (1 mile south), Grove Park (1 mile north-east), Sundridge (1 mile south-east), Chinbrook (1 mile east) and Bellingham (1 mile west). Further out, we also cover London (7 miles north-west), City of Westminster (9 miles north-west), Marylebone (9 miles north-west), Kensington (10 miles north-west), St Pancras (9 miles north-west) and Shoreditch (8 miles north-west).
Landmarks near Downham
In Downham, that means kitchens and buildings near Holy Trinity College Bromley, Downham Fields and Bonus Pastor Catholic College, among other places. The nearest railway station is Grove Park station, about 0.8 miles north-east. Nearby you’ll also find The Glades (1.6 miles south) and Greenwich Castle (3.6 miles north). Not far away are Summer Hill and Downham Woodland Walk.
Staff cleaning versus specialist work
Good housekeeping makes our visits easier, not unnecessary. Clean filters and tidy surfaces slow the build-up, but the parts you can’t see still need a specialist at the right interval.
For ventilation and air handling systems, in-house care is mostly about checks: keeping grilles clear, noting unusual noise or smells and logging filter changes. Cleaning inside ducts and units is specialist work.
Common questions in Downham
Who would carry out a food hygiene inspection at a kitchen in Downham?
Kitchens in Downham are inspected by Lewisham council’s environmental health officers. Ratings are published by the Food Standards Agency, so a clean extract and good records are worth keeping up.
Who is the fire and rescue service for Downham?
That’s London Fire Brigade. If a fire safety officer visits a commercial kitchen, they may ask about the fire risk assessment and how the extract is kept clean.
Do you work with multi-site operators?
Yes. One number covers all your sites across London and the South East, with visits on a regular schedule.
How do you keep the site clean during the work?
We cover floors and nearby surfaces with sheeting before any work starts, and waste is contained as we go. Before we leave, we tidy up and clean down.
How regularly do grease filters need exchanging?
There’s no single answer. The schedule is based on how heavily you cook, and adjust it if needed.
Which accreditations do you hold?
We’re a BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite member, cleaning to BESA TR19® Grease. We also hold CHAS, SafeContractor and ISO 9001, and we carry full insurance.
What types of premises do you cover?
Any site with a kitchen or a ventilation system to look after, from a single café to a large school. Hotels, schools, care homes, offices, shops and leisure sites are all part of our work.
Do you handle baffle and mesh filters?
We work with both baffle and mesh filters. We check what’s in your canopies first and plan the exchange around them.
Landlords, agents and facilities managers
The Fire Safety Order 2005 puts the duty to manage fire risk on the responsible person, which may be the employer, owner, landlord, FM or managing agent. With shared responsibility, good records help everyone.
Managing agents often deal with us directly. Send the address, what’s needed and how access works and we’ll come back with a fixed quote.
What the work involves, part by part
Canopy filter housings
The filter housing holds each filter at an angle in the canopy. If it’s bent or greasy, filters won’t seat properly.
Mesh filters
Mesh traps grease between its layers, so a quick rinse rarely gets it clean.
Keeping the system healthy
Looking after the system between visits is straightforward, and it helps at the next visit:
- Clean the canopy surfaces regularly
- Tell us if the menu or opening hours change
- Don’t refit a filter that’s bent
- Keep the canopy clear for exchange visits
The canopy looks cleaner and the air moves better from the moment they’re fitted. Always run the extract during cooking so the filters do their job.
If filters are already dripping, they’re overdue. Changing them now reduces the fuel above the cooking and the plenum may need a clean as well.
The process
When we arrive, we check the system against the survey or the pictures you sent. If anything is different, we talk it through with the person on site before carrying on. From there, it takes less than an hour in most kitchens. Night and weekend working is normal for us in London, and a site in Downham is no exception.
- The filters in each canopy are measured and counted.
- An exchange schedule is agreed to suit your cooking.
- The dirty set is lifted out.
- Clean filters go in and we check they sit snugly.
- We take the greasy set away and confirm the next date.
Before we arrive
- Clear loose items from the work area
- Find the previous report, if there is one
- Let us know about permits to work or site inductions
Get a fixed quote
If you need grease filter exchange in Downham, phone us on 0345 646 2711, or send details by email. Tell us what kind of premises it is and when it’s open, and send photos or your last report if you can. We normally send a fixed quote within one working day.