Brand guide · The UK dealer’s viewThe kitchen’s
quiet workhorse.
Polar is the refrigeration brand of Nisbets — and the default cold storage of Britain’s independent kitchens. Uprights, counters, drawers and a walk-in range that surprises everyone. Live prices below.
The story
Polar is Nisbets’ own refrigeration brand — which tells you almost everything. Britain’s biggest catering supplier built a fridge range the way a caterer would spec one: sensible prices, standard sizes, and stock that’s actually on the shelf in Bristol.
That last part is the brand’s real personality. When an independent kitchen loses a fridge on a Friday, the question isn’t “what’s the best cabinet made” — it’s “what can be cold on my line by tomorrow.” The trade press has reported Polar’s next-day refrigeration push for exactly that jam, and it fits how we sell it: the dependable answer that’s available now.
The catalogue splits into three tiers you can read straight off the model numbers — C-Series for light duty, G-Series for the busy middle, U-Series for professional kitchens that run all day. And here’s what buyers get wrong: they file Polar under “cheap uprights” and miss its quiet specialism. Eighty of our live lines are integral walk-in rooms — proper cold rooms at flat-pack prices, no refrigeration engineer needed for the integral units.
The range depth is measured from Craven Cooling’s Store API. Catalogue presence is not an availability promise.
The range in numbers
Polar runs from £164.96 + VAT to £7,348.76 + VAT, with a £1,199.87 + VAT median. All + VAT.
Polar C-Series 16 Bottle Table Top Wine Fridge CB058
The catalogue median is £1,199.87 + VAT — indicatively around £6.42 a week on five-year finance, subject to status. Ask for today’s terms.
Polar U-Series 1.8 x 2.1m Integral Walk In Freezer Room Grey DS486-FGY
Most independent kitchens land on a combination: uprights near goods-in, counter or drawer fridges on the cook line — exactly the pairing Polar is specified for.From our guide · How to Choose a Commercial Fridge
Where Polar earns its keep
Dealer judgement appears only where the existing guide corpus supports it.
The general-kitchen pairing
U-Series uprights near goods-in, with GN counter or drawer fridges on the cook line.
Open, scoopable ice cream
The static-cooled U-Series 6-pan serve-over is built precisely for open, scoopable ice cream — our display-freezer guide’s pick for the job.
Specialist meat ageing
Static cooling done right: the U-Series Meat Ager gives the still, humid environment that develops flavour without the drying a fan would cause.
Where we’d point elsewhere
Front-of-house retail display — multidecks and serve-overs that sell stock — is Tefcold and Blizzard territory. And for heavy-duty blast chilling with premium back-of-house kit, ask us about Foster first.
The range, line by line
Walk-in Freezers
40 live priced lines in this catalogue snapshotIntegral walk-in freezer rooms — delivered as panels, running the same day. The range nobody expects Polar to have. Representative model: Polar U-Series 1.5 x 2.1m Integral Walk In Freezer Room DS483-FGY at £6,648.83 + VAT.
Browse the range →
Walk-in Fridges
40 live priced lines in this catalogue snapshotProper cold-room capacity for kitchens that have outgrown uprights — sized from broom-cupboard to butchery. Representative model: Polar U-Series 2.1 x 1.5m Integral Walk In Cold Room DS487-CWH at £6,347.00 + VAT.
Browse the range →
Countertop Cake Displays
21 live priced lines in this catalogue snapshotCounter-top chilled display for cafés and delis — cakes and grab-and-go where the customer’s eye lands. Representative model: Polar C-Series Countertop Display Fridge Black 100Ltr CU636 at £560.33 + VAT.
Browse the range →
Drawer Fridges
20 live priced lines in this catalogue snapshotThe cook line’s best friend — GN drawers under the bench so the station never turns its back on the pass. Representative model: Polar G-Series Counter Fridge with 6 Drawers 240Ltr FA440 at £1,349.36 + VAT.
Browse the range →
Upright Fridges
20 live priced lines in this catalogue snapshotThe goods-in workhorses — U-Series uprights are the storage backbone of the independent kitchen. Representative model: Polar G-Series Single Door Patisserie Refrigerator 522Ltr GL185 at £1,070.18 + VAT.
Browse the range →
Upright Freezers
16 live priced lines in this catalogue snapshotFrozen backup in the same footprint as the fridges — matching cabinets, one supplier, no drama. Representative model: Polar U-Series Single Door Upright Freezer 650Ltr UA051 at £1,187.99 + VAT.
Browse the range →The live price range
Price evidence here comes straight from the Store API snapshot: minimum £164.96 + VAT, median £1,199.87 + VAT, maximum £7,348.76 + VAT. The catalogue median is £1,199.87 + VAT — indicatively around £6.42 a week on five-year finance, subject to status. Ask for today’s terms.
Prices move with the catalogue. The live explorer below is the current check; confirm the quote before committing.
The live range explorer
This is the live Polar catalogue. Filter a leading category or search a model number.
Loading the live range…
Buying Polar wisely
The Dealer’s Five — mined where the team has already written it, left visibly pending everywhere else.
Where does it earn its keep?
General kitchen storage and line refrigeration, especially U-Series uprights paired with GN counter or drawer fridges.
Who is the best-fit customer?
Independent kitchens above all — cafés, pubs and restaurants that need dependable cold storage at sensible money, today not next month.
Where would we point elsewhere?
Retail display that sells stock (Tefcold, Blizzard) and premium blast chilling (Foster). Polar is the kitchen’s cold storage, not the shopfront’s.
Which range or model is the heartland choice?
U-Series uprights paired with the four-drawer GN counter — the exact combination our own fridge guide specs for a working line.
What do we know from experience about support and availability?
Nisbets-backed, with the trade press reporting a next-day refrigeration push — and the U-Series cabinets our guides name are the ones we see available. We confirm the live lead time on every order.
Backed in South Wales
Craven Cooling is in Swansea. Bring the application, dimensions and site services; the team can confirm the correct model, installation needs, current delivery position, warranty and service terms before order.
This draft makes no founding-year claim for Craven Cooling and no blanket availability promise.
Polar FAQs
Nisbets-owned commercial refrigeration brand covering kitchen storage, prep, display, ice and cold-room formats.
Polar Refrigeration is a brand name owned by Nisbets Limited.
378 live priced lines at the 11 July 2026 snapshot.
From £164.96 + VAT to £7,348.76 + VAT, with a median of £1,199.87 + VAT. All figures + VAT.
Walk-in Freezers (40), Walk-in Fridges (40), Countertop Cake Display Fridges (21), Drawer Fridges (20), Single Door Upright Fridges (20), Single Door Commercial Upright Freezers (16).
The catalogue median is £1,199.87 + VAT — indicatively around £6.42 a week on five-year finance, subject to status. Ask for today’s terms.
No availability promise is made from catalogue presence alone. Ask Craven Cooling to confirm the chosen model and current lead time.
The verdict blocks use only text mined from Craven’s team-written guides; remaining gaps are visibly pending Nick’s Dealer’s Five.
We’ll confirm the equipment.
Call with the application, space, services and throughput. Every price shown is + VAT.