Essex · Grease filter exchange
The Common grease filter exchange
One call covers a scheduled grease filter exchange, swapping dirty canopy filters for clean ones in The Common, from survey to sign-off. Fully insured, with CHAS, SafeContractor and ISO 9001.
- A canopy that drips grease
- Damaged filters letting grease past
- A canopy running with filters missing
Grease filter exchange in The Common, done properly
A clean set of filters is a simple, regular dose of prevention. Between full cleans, it keeps the airflow healthy, and it saves your staff a greasy job. The full TR19 clean then gives the system its clean bill of health. We are often asked to deal with filter washing that keeps being missed and hand-washed filters that still look greasy, across restaurants and pubs, island canopies and school and hospital kitchens.
In a village or hamlet like The Common, the kitchens that need extract cleaning are normally a pub, a school, a care home or a hall kitchen, wherever there is one. Each still has a canopy and duct that collect grease.
Nothing is signed off by word of mouth: a dated report with photos of the work, and for TR19® Grease cleans, a certificate issued through the BESCA VHE portal. Any parts we couldn’t reach are recorded on it too.
- Location
- The Common (CB10)
- Wider area
- Essex
- Paperwork
- Written report with photos
- Quote
- A fixed price before any work starts
- Working hours
- Overnight and weekend work, 24/7 emergency callout
- Call
- 0345 646 2711
- Updated
- 30 October 2026
The Common kitchens: local notes
It’s Uttlesford council that sends environmental health officers to food businesses in The Common. An officer looking round a kitchen will see the canopy, and grease there is hard to miss. A TR19® certificate and photo report after each clean gives you a record to show an inspector. The Common is about 41 miles from central London, well within the area we cover across London and the South East. Evening, overnight and weekend visits are all possible.
A hall kitchen that only cooks for events, whether near Church of St Mary the Virgin or elsewhere in The Common, still needs its extract cleaned, just less often. School kitchens, at schools like Radwinter Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School for example, are typically cleaned in the holidays so no lunches are lost.
The Common is about 4 miles east of Saffron Walden, in Essex. Wherever you are in the CB10 postcode area, we can take on grease filter exchange. We cover 644 places across Essex, from busy centres to quieter spots. Chelmsford is in our area too, around 21 miles away.
We work across CB10 for grease filter exchange and the streets around it. We also cover the places around The Common: Radwinter (1 mile south), Maple End (1 mile south-west), Wimbish (2 miles south-west), Hempstead (2 miles east) and Church End (3 miles north-west). Larger places within reach include Braintree (13 miles south-east), Saffron Walden (4 miles west), Halstead (14 miles south-east), Great Dunmow (10 miles south), Stansted Mountfitchet (10 miles south-west) and Great Notley (14 miles south-east).
Local landmarks in The Common
A little further out are Castle Camps (2.8 miles north-east) and Saffron Walden Community Hospital (3.5 miles west). For a walk, there’s Hales and Shadwell Woods.
Multi-site and managed buildings
We also work for facilities teams across offices, schools and healthcare in The Common and across Essex. Larger estates can be phased building by building around the people who use them.
From a single site to a large estate, the standard is the same: diagnosis, a fixed price, work booked around your hours and a written report with photos.
Places near The Common
What else we do in The Common
The Common questions
Can you work in The Common outside opening hours?
Yes, nights and weekends are routine for us. That way a site in The Common doesn’t have to lose a day’s trading. Tell us your opening hours when you ask for a quote.
Who is the fire and rescue service for The Common?
That is Essex County Fire and Rescue Service. Records of extract cleaning are a sensible thing to have ready if a fire safety officer carries out an audit.
How much notice do you need?
Book as early as you can for planned work, especially if the next clean or test is due soon. Emergencies are different, because our line is open 24/7.
Can we skip TR19 cleans if the filters are changed regularly?
No. The rest of the system still collects grease at an interval set by risk assessment.
What types of filter do you exchange?
We exchange baffle and mesh filters. At the start, we note what your canopies use so the clean set always fits.
Do you survey before quoting?
Yes, every time. We diagnose before we treat: the survey shows what needs doing and what access we need and the fixed quote is built on it.
Do we need to close while you work?
Normally not. Out-of-hours visits keep the disruption down. Larger jobs can be phased over several visits to keep things running.
Do I get a report after the visit?
Yes, always. The report is dated and includes photos, plus a certificate via the BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite portal for TR19® Grease cleans. Keep it in your maintenance log.
Part by part
The plenum
The plenum is the space behind the filters. Grease that gets past the filters settles there.
Mesh filters
Grease lodges deep in the layers of a mesh filter, so a quick rinse rarely gets it clean.
Why act early in The Common
Clogged filters choke the extract. Heat and fumes hang in the kitchen while the fan strains. Keeping filters clean keeps the extract working properly. A planned visit to The Common is easier to arrange than an emergency callout.
What you pay depends on the size of the system, the condition it’s in and how easy it is to reach. We give you a fixed price before work begins, so there are no surprises.
Why The Common businesses choose us
- A single point of contact for sites across the South East and London
- Fixed quotes from a survey or photos
- Every visit written up, with pictures
- Full insurance on every job
Take a look at what affects the cost or how to check a contractor.
Keeping the system healthy
No system stays clean for ever, but care slows the build-up. A few tips:
- Never cook with the extract switched off
- Mention it if the kitchen gets busier
- Report damaged filters so they can be replaced
- Make sure no filter is left out
If the plenum behind the filters looks greasy, we say so. That might mean bringing a TR19® clean forward, and we can arrange it.
If cooking has stepped up, the filter schedule should too. Changing the interval early stops grease building up unseen in the ducts.
Common problems we fix in The Common
Every fry, grill and sauté sends grease-laden vapour upwards. Much of it is trapped by the filters so they gradually clog until the air can barely get through.
Clients usually contact us after spotting one of these:
- Filters that leave gaps in the canopy
- Drips falling from the filters onto equipment
- Grease filters clogged with grease
- Hand-washed filters that still look greasy
If you run catering at a healthcare site, such as a hospital like Saffron Walden Community Hospital about 3.5 miles west, the extract may need cleaning more often than a part-time kitchen.
What to look for in a quote
- Whether the quote is based on a survey or photos
- What paperwork you get at the end
- Their accreditations, such as BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite, CHAS or SafeContractor
- Whether the quote shows VAT
How the visit works
Your trading hours come first. We book the visit for a time the area is closed, whether that’s an evening, overnight or a weekend. Once we are in, the area is sheeted and anything that has to be off is turned off and cooled, and the job takes a few minutes per canopy, longer for a large kitchen with several canopies. Somewhere like The Common, lanes, gates and parking are worth mentioning in advance.
- We record the number, size and type of your filters.
- 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.
- The dirty filters leave with us and the next visit is booked.
Before we arrive
- Find the previous report, if there is one
- Let us know about permits to work or site inductions
- Allow time for equipment near the work to be turned off and cool down
Get a fixed quote
We don’t publish a price list, because every site is different. We look at your system first, from pictures or on a visit, and then send you a fixed quote. To start, call 0345 646 2711, or email photos.
Related advice
When it’s something else
Not every problem is solved by grease filter exchange, and we’d rather say so up front. It doesn’t solve:
- Grease deep in the extract system
- Extraction problems caused by the fan rather than the filters
- A canopy that needs a proper clean
If in doubt, call 0345 646 2711 or use the quote form and we will say what we think before you book.
What we work on in The Common
- Wall canopies
- Island canopies
- Baffle filters
- School and hospital kitchens
- Restaurants and pubs
- Mesh filters