WE KNOW THIS
EQUIPMENT
Not because we sell it. Because we've run it.
"I grew Project D from a 1,000 sq ft kitchen to an 11,000 sq ft production bakery with shops at Meadowhall and Heathrow. I've bought this equipment, run it daily, fixed it when it broke, and learned exactly what's worth buying and what isn't."
— Max Poynton, Founder
Doughline / Project D
BUILT FROM
REAL EXPERIENCE
Max Poynton has been sourcing, refurbishing and supplying premium used commercial equipment since 2017 — not as a side project, but as a direct result of building one of the UK's most-loved independent food brands from the ground up.
He founded Project D in 2018, growing it from a modest 1,000 sq ft kitchen into a full-scale 11,000 sq ft production facility in Derby. At its peak, Project D operated 10 sites across the country — including concessions at Sheffield Meadowhall and Heathrow Terminal 2 — serving a handmade premium product that demanded serious, reliable equipment every single day. The brand continues to operate today.
Scaling a food business to that level means you buy a lot of equipment. You learn fast which brands hold up under pressure, which machines pay for themselves, and which ones become a permanent drain on your engineering team. You develop a feel for what matters in a spec sheet versus what matters at 4am when you're mid-production and something's gone wrong.
Doughline exists because Max realised that knowledge — the hard-won, hands-on kind — was exactly what most food businesses were missing when they went to source equipment. He started supplying to industry contacts in 2017, and formalised that into Doughline with a straightforward principle: only sell what you'd put in your own kitchen.
WHEN YOU BUY FROM DOUGHLINE YOU'RE BUYING FROM SOMEONE WHO'S BEEN IN YOUR POSITION.
I know which machines are workhorses and which ones cause problems.
Years of running Hobarts, Bongards, Rationals and Rancilios in a live production environment means nothing in our stock is guesswork. If it's here, it earned its place.
Every item is refurbished to the standard I'd want in my own kitchen.
That's not a marketing line. It's the standard we held when kitting out Project D — and we haven't dropped it since. If I wouldn't run it, we don't sell it.
I'm not here for a one-time sale — I want to be your equipment partner for years.
Food businesses need someone they can call back. We're built for long-term relationships with operators who take their kitchens as seriously as we take ours.
MAX POYNTON
Founder, Doughline
Max has spent nearly a decade inside commercial kitchens — not watching from the sidelines but running them at scale. He built Project D into a nationally recognised food brand, personally sourcing and operating the equipment that made a production bakery viable at 11,000 sq ft.
When he started Doughline, he brought the same practical mindset. Every machine is chosen because it works. Every refurbishment is held to the standard of someone who has relied on that equipment to keep a production line moving — because that someone is him.
PROJECT D —
SERIOUS SCALE
Project D is a premium handmade doughnut brand founded by Max in 2018. What started as a small-batch kitchen operation became a full commercial food business — an 11,000 sq ft production facility in Derby, supplying 10 UK sites with a product that couldn't afford a bad batch.
At peak, Project D operated concessions at Sheffield Meadowhall and Heathrow Terminal 2 — environments where equipment reliability isn't a nice-to-have, it's the difference between opening and not opening. Max ran that operation, managed that kit, and dealt with the consequences when something went wrong.
That experience is the foundation Doughline is built on. Not theory, not manufacturer claims — genuine operational knowledge from someone who has sourced, installed, run and maintained commercial equipment under real production pressure. Project D continues to operate today, and Doughline carries that same DNA.
PROJECT D
Premium Handmade Doughnuts · Est. 2018
WHAT WE
SUPPLY
View all stock →Bakery Equipment
Planetary mixers, deck ovens, proofers, dividers and dough handling equipment. Hobart, Bongard, Mono and more — all refurbished to our internal standard.
Bean to Cup Coffee
Commercial espresso machines, automatic bean-to-cup units and grinders. Rancilio, Jura, Franke and more — on hire or outright purchase.
Catering Equipment
Rational combis, Lincat boilers, commercial refrigeration, fryers and full kitchen equipment for any commercial operation.