Turn an empty corner into a 24/7 amenity.
A fully managed smart fridge for student residences, offices and gyms — international snacks & drinks, cashless, monitored 24/7. We install. We stock. We operate. You provide the corner.
No installation cost. You get 10% of net sales with a £30/month minimum guarantee — and a 12-month term that then runs monthly.
One compact unit, sealed cabinet, contactless terminal.
A modern glass-front cabinet, quieter than a traditional vending machine. The whole thing sits on a square metre of floor and pays for its own running costs.
A self-serve refreshment point your team never has to think about.
Users buy what they want, when they want, with card or phone. Sidobox handles everything behind the scenes.
Six concrete wins, zero work for your team.
Always-on amenity
Residents, staff and visitors get drinks and snacks inside the building, day and night — no café overhead.
Zero operational burden
Install, stocking, monitoring, maintenance, support — all on us. Your team carries on doing their actual job.
No food licence required
Sidobox handles food business registration and compliance. You don't apply for anything to host the service.
Cashless only
Card and mobile, no cash handling. No float, no theft risk, no awkward conversations.
Passive revenue, guaranteed
10% of net sales, with a £30/month minimum guarantee. You're never paid less than the floor, and you share the upside when the unit performs.
Stock that evolves
The range adapts to what your users actually buy — and they can request items by QR code from the fridge itself.
The boring stuff — who carries what.
Hosting a service in your building should not introduce risk. Here's what we carry, what we don't ask of you, and the one thing we do.
Public liability insurance
We carry comprehensive public liability cover for the unit and our on-site activity. Certificate available on request before signing.
The floor covers the power
The unit runs from one standard 13A socket on your supply — a typical fridge load, around £20 a month. The £30 monthly minimum is set to cover it, so a quiet month leaves you square and a good month is clear of it. No metering admin, no line item on your service charge.
No long lock-in
Initial 12-month term, then rolling monthly on 30 days' written notice — we'd rather earn the renewal than enforce a contract.
Three steps — then it just runs.
20 minutes, on-site.
We meet you at the corner you have in mind, measure up, agree the commercial terms, and send a 1-page agreement.
One hour, no disruption.
We bring the unit in on a trolley, plug into a standard 13A socket, calibrate, and go. Your day continues uninterrupted.
We operate it.
Stocking, monitoring, maintenance, customer support, payments. You receive a monthly statement and your revenue share — 10% of net sales, or the £30 floor, whichever is higher.
Smart fridge vs traditional vending vs doing nothing.
Most "amenity gaps" in residential, office and gym buildings get patched with a clunky vending machine or simply left empty. Neither is a great answer for the people in the building.
| Feature | Sidobox Smart Fridge | Traditional Vending | Doing Nothing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burden on host | None — we run it end-to-end | Some — operator visits, complaints | None, but no amenity either |
| Revenue to host | 10% of net sales, £30/mo minimum | Flat rental, usually low | £0 |
| Resident / user experience | Wide range, fresh items, app receipts | Crisps & canned drinks only | Walk to the shop |
| Mechanical reliability | High — sealed cabinet, no coils to jam | Moderate — coils, motors, coin paths | n/a |
| Visual impact in lobby | Modern fridge, calm lighting | 1980s metal box | Empty corner |
| Footprint | < 1 m² | ~ 0.8–1 m² | 0 |
Sidobox Smart Fridge
Traditional Vending
Doing Nothing
Smart fridges replace 1980s mechanical vending with a sealed cabinet, computer-vision item recognition, and a remote-monitored payments stack — all in roughly the same footprint, with none of the operator headaches.
Built for buildings with regular footfall.
Student residences
Students study late, return at all hours, and value being able to grab something without leaving the building. International students appreciate familiar flavours from home; everyone enjoys the discovery range.
This becomes a real on-site amenity that improves the day-to-day living experience — without you running a shop.
Ideal: 80+ beds
Our box · common room shown for illustration
Offices & co-working
Employees and visitors grab a drink or snack without leaving the floor. A small workplace upgrade that costs you nothing to run and requires no operational thought.
Especially useful for buildings without a café tenant, or where the on-site café shuts at 5pm but the office runs later.
Ideal: 50+ daily desks
Our box · office floor shown for illustration
Gyms & fitness centres
Members want hydration and recovery snacks before and after workouts. A 24/7 fridge gives them that, with no staffed counter to keep open and no inventory headache for you.
Drinks margins are high, and a smart fridge avoids the off-hours staffing cost of a real protein bar.
Ideal: 500+ members
Our box · gym floor shown for illustration
Roughly, you want this much footfall.
These are indicative thresholds for a single-unit install. Smaller sites can still work — we just need to be sensible about the commercial terms. If you're not sure, send us your numbers via the form below and we'll be honest.
Student residence
Works well in halls of residence, PBSA blocks, and large HMOs. The bigger and more international the cohort, the stronger the fit.
Office / co-working
Best where there's no on-site café or where the café closes early. Multi-tenant buildings work well — everyone benefits.
Gym / fitness
Best in 24-hour facilities and gyms without a staffed bar. Higher hydration / protein purchase rate at peak class times.
A genuine taste of the world — not just crisps.
Drinks and snacks from Japan, Korea, China, India, Pakistan, Southeast Asia, Europe and the UK. Bottled drinks, soft drinks, energy drinks, biscuits, crisps, sweets, instant noodles, and convenience snacks.
Users can request items by QR code on every fridge, and we adjust the range based on what people actually buy. Allergens are labelled; chilled-only at all times.
The deal, in one line.
10% of net sales, with a £30/month minimum guarantee.
You're paid monthly. If the unit performs well, your share goes up. If it has a slow month, you still receive at least £30 — the floor never moves.
There's no charge for install, removal or any other line item. The one running cost that touches you is the electricity — a standard fridge load the £30 floor is set to cover. One transparent payment in your direction, every month.
Prefer to host the unit as a pure resident / staff amenity and waive the payment? That's also fine — tell us on the site visit.
Rather your own team restocked it?
Your team restocks. We bring everything else.
Suits sites with staff already on the floor and steady footfall.
Interested? Mention it in the form below, or on the site visit.
The real questions hosts ask us.
What if it breaks at 2am?
What if a resident complains about a charge?
Can I see one in person before signing?
What happens at the end of the term?
Who handles food safety and licensing?
What if my building isn't big enough?
Tell us about your building.
Two minutes. We'll come back within one working day with an honest read on whether it'll work and a rough indication of terms.
Thanks — we'll be in touch.
We'll reply within one working day with next steps and a proposed site-visit time.
Bring a 24/7 amenity to your building.
Sidobox runs fully managed smart fridges in and around Bristol, in student accommodation, offices and gyms, at no installation cost — and leases and sells them across the UK.
Mon–Fri 9am–6pm UK · We reply within one working day.