Distribution centres were set up in Hayes in Middlesex, Preston in Lancashire and Oxford to handle the C5s.[35] Hoover arranged for 19 of its service offices around the UK – responsible for maintaining customers' vacuum cleaners and washing machines – to also maintain C5s and provide spare parts.[36] The C5's major consumable item, the battery, was to be supported by 300 branches of Comet and Woolworths.[3]