A Snapshot of PKL’s 2015: Part 1

In such a busy company, it's impossible to tell you everything we've been up to this year, so instead we've picked just one photo to represent each month of 2015, to give you a quick snapshot of our year! Here's Part 1 - January to June. Part 2 to follow soon...



January - ExtensionPods Launch
In January, we introduced our range of “ExtensionPods” – modular buildings which can be joined onto existing buildings as an alternative to a traditional extension. They can be used to create an open plan space, or be kept as separate rooms with their own doors. The range includes the KitchenPod, PrepPod, DishwashPod, StoragePod and LaundryPod, each offering bespoke options to suit your requirements.



February – Food Cube Diner at Stratford-upon-Avon School
February saw the installation of our first ever Food Cube Diner – a Food Cube with integrated dining room – at Stratford-upon-Avon School. The Food Cube Diner was built to ease pressure on the main canteen when the school moved from a double to a single lunch hour and introduced a “stay on site” policy. The diner is used exclusively by Year 11, but it also has an external serving hatch available for use by other year groups. The dining room is also used by clubs and as an exam hall when not in use.



March – New Event Kitchens Website
In March we launched our brand new event kitchens website, dontforgetthekitchen.com. This website is designed specifically for our event clients and offers an instant online estimate system as well as access to details of all our kitchens and equipment for hire, case studies, and health and safety information. It also gives access to crockery, cutlery and glassware from our partners at Well Dressed Tables.



April – Large Scale Temporary Prison Kitchen 
We undertook a large scale modular kitchen project for a prison client in April, who needed a 6-month temporary kitchen solution during a major refurbishment. Comprising 35 kitchen units, and with a footprint of over 500m2, the facility was initially constructed at PKL (construction phase shown above!), with the mechanical and electrical fit-out taking place here as well as the extraction and equipment installation. It was then disassembled into individual units, delivered and re-built at the client’s site ready to go.



May – Cake Sale for Nepal Earthquake Appeal 
At the beginning of May we held a cake sale to raise money for the Nepal Earthquake Appeal. Throughout the year, we also held fundraising events for Comic Relief, Macmillan Cancer Support, the Royal British Legion and Children in Need, raising a total of over £365 for charity.



June – Temporary Kitchens at Cavendish Primary School
In June, we installed a temporary kitchen and dining facility at Cavendish Primary School in Manchester. As well as areas for preparation, production, dry and cold storage, and dishwashing, the large facility also features a dining hall, staff room and toilets. It will be on site for 18 months while the school’s old facilities undergo a major refurbishment.

PKL's Macmillan Coffee Morning 2015

On Friday we took part in the World's Biggest Coffee Morning to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support. This is a popular event in the PKL calendar, and lots of staff brought in delicious food to sell.

We like to have a selection of sweet and savoury treats to sell, so this year we had chicken dippers, sausage rolls and crisps as well as a huge range of homemade goodies including lemon drizzle cake, cheese straws, macarons, lemon and lime slices, cherry and choc chip cookies, cupcakes and Oreo chocolate bites.



As always, the canteen was decorated with loads of bunting and balloons, and there were posters up on every door in the building!

We're very pleased to have raised a total of £87.05 for such a great cause!

Cake Sale for the Nepal Earthquake Appeal

On Saturday 25th April a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal, killing thousands and affecting millions of people. Many have been left with nothing, having lost their homes and having limited access to shelter, food and clean water. It will take years and millions of pounds to help put things right, so PKL staff wanted to help.

Last week we held a cake sale in the canteen, with everyone bringing in all sorts of food to sell. We raised a total of £90, which we have donated to the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Nepal Earthquake Appeal. 

The DEC incorporates 13 member agencies: Action Aid, Age International, British Red Cross, CAFOD, Care International, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide, Islamic Relief, Oxfam, Plan UK, Save the Children, Tearfund and World Vision. In times of crisis, the DEC enables these 13 charities to collectively raise money to reach those in need quickly. The money will be spent on things like rescue operations, medical help, emergency shelters, food, clean water and blankets for people affected by the earthquake.

If you'd like to help too, you can visit the DEC website to donate.

PKL Does Red Nose Day!

As well as being race week here in Cheltenham, today is also Red Nose Day, so we've had a day of fundraising for Comic Relief! Staff donated money to dress down (many of them in red or racing-themed outfits), and we brought in lots of tasty food to sell too!

In a nod to the horse racing happening just two miles down the road this week, we also did a special Gold Cup sweepstake, with half of the money raised going to Comic Relief and the rest into the prize fund. In fact, so many people wanted to take part that we ended up running two sweepstakes!

We're really pleased to have raised a total of £92!

PKL's Macmillan Coffee Morning 2014

Today we joined thousands of people across the country to take part in the World's Biggest Coffee Morning to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support. The PKL canteen was decked out with yards of bunting, and the tables were positively groaning under the weight of all the cake ready to sell.

Following last year's success, the standard of baked goods was particularly high as the more competitive members of staff battled to out-bake each other.

Top picks this year included some fabulous lemon drizzle cake, the most delicious sausage rolls we've ever eaten, posh cake pops, a magnificant array of chocolate brownies, and some rather fancy honey glazed flapjacks.

The feast has been available all day, so for some of our more hungry members of staff, it has constituted breakfast, elevenses, lunch and afternoon tea! We suspect our next fundraising event will need to be a charity slimathon...

We're really pleased that we've managed to beat last year's total, and have successfully raised £175 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

It's not too late to donate to this worthy cause, so donate online here.

Happiness at PKL

Today is the second annual International Day of Happiness! You might remember that last year, we listed some reasons why PKL is happy. Well, we're back again this year, explaining why we are still happy! We asked a few PKL staff members what's making them happy in their departments at the moment:

"The summer is fast aproaching, which will be busy but really exciting for us, with our equipment heading off to events all over the country!" Krista, Event Hire Team

"We're very proud and happy that our colleague Lee successfully survived his parachute jump in aid of Brain Tumour Research!" Andrea, Finance

"Our reception area has just had a complete facelift, with new paint and flooring as well as a new trophy cabinet, TV screen and reception desk!" Pat, Business Support

Reception before (top) and after (bottom)

"We've had some fantastic feedback and happy customers in Dubai following our new partnership with Lowe Refrigeration." Peter, PKL Transworld

"I'm happy because we've just added a new member to the CAD team to help with all the exciting new projects we're working on at the moment!" Karsten, Kitchen Design Team

"After months of hard work, our brand new range of hire guide brochures is in the process of being printed!" Sam, Marketing

Our new hire guide brochures being printed

"I'm happy that I had the opportunity to go and watch the filming of The One Show when our KitchenPods and Food Cubes were featured on it!" Ian, Permanent Kitchens Team

"We're happy because we've received a 92% customer satisfaction rating for quality and technical support this year!" John, Kit Heaven and Manisha, Technical Support

PKL's Macmillan Coffee Morning

Like many people across the country, we held a Macmillan coffee morning here at PKL today
as part of the charity's "World's Biggest Coffee Morning" fundraising event.
 

The canteen has been filled with bunting, balloons and more cake than you could shake a stick at, and PKL staff have been ducking in throughout the day to top up their sugar levels and part with their hard-earned cash!

PKL staff are always willing to rise to the occcasion for these types of events, especially if bunting is involved, so we now have enough cake to last us until Christmas... at least!

Treats on offer have included Pat's lemon drizzle cake, Sue's chocolate brownies, Linda's blueberry and lemon cake, Manisha's homemade sausage rolls (always a popular choice in the office!) plus many more fantastic offerings.

Certain members of staff have also quite literally stepped up to the plate and have selflessly taken it upon themselves to ensure they try every type of cake on offer, so as not to offend anyone's feelings - what heroes!
 

This is a really great cause, so if you haven't managed to go to a coffee morning today, you can still donate to Macmillan online here.

EDIT: After the final count, we raised a total of £170!

PKL Donates £6000 to the Children's Food Trust

Following the Olympic Games last summer, we went through our catering equipment hire stock and allocated a number of items to be sold off, which were surplus to our ongoing requirements. We’ve made this surplus equipment available at great prices through our Mid West Catering Equipment division, enabling caterers to buy quality, second hand equipment at a fraction of the RRP.

As you may already know, we pledged to make a donation to the Children’s Food Trust for every piece of kit sold, and I handed over our first cheque back in January, which was for a massive £8000.

Following on from this, I’m pleased to announce that I presented donation number two - a cheque for £6000 - to Rob Rees, Chairman of the Children's Food Trust last week.

Rob said: “We’re delighted PKL has supported us with another donation. The Trust’s work in encouraging more children, schools and parents around the country to have a positive experience with food is hugely important. This will help us reach more schools and more children in 2013.”

The Children's Food Trust is a national charity which aims to get children eating better, and its work includes developing healthy school menus and cooking skills with children. I’m very proud that PKL is able to support this charity, as they do a huge amount of work on improving children’s eating habits and, through this, encouraging children to reach their potential.

I look forward to PKL continuing to work with the Children's Food Trust to further support their excellent work.

Red Nose Day Fun!

There's been lots going on here at PKL today, to raise money for Comic Relief. Loads of staff members have paid to come to work in fancy dress, with some people taking it more seriously than others..!
 

The best: "Pants Girl" and Pippi Longstocking
The worst: Marketing Manager Sam reluctantly wearing a feather boa

We also held an office bake off, which really brought out a competitive steak in some colleagues! The company directors formed the judging panel, and entries were judged on both appearance and taste. With such a large responsibility on their shoulders, the directors felt compelled to eat as much cake as possible to ensure they definitely made the right decision. With such a thorough approach and great attention to detail, it's no wonder these guys are company directors - such dedication!

Directors Peter Schad and Chris Irving sample the cakes,
before Managing Director Chris reveals the winner!

Following the judging, all the bake off entries were then put into a cake sale to raise even more money.

EDIT (5.30pm): We've just counted up, and the grand total we raised was a fantastic £115!

PKL's Olympic Legacy Raises £8000 for Children's Food Trust

Our contract to supply temporary kitchens and catering equipment to London 2012 resulted in many ex-hire catering equipment items, some of which were used at the athletes' village and other Olympic venues, being made available over the past four months at huge discounts through Mid West Catering, a division of PKL which specialises in selling quality second-hand catering equipment. 

Our commitment to make a donation to the Children’s Food Trust for every used item sold has now resulted in a truly Olympic-sized windfall for the charity, which recently received its first donation from us in the form of a cheque of £8000.

The Children’s Food Trust is a national charity which exists to protect every child’s right to eat better and, so, to do better. Their work includes developing healthy school menus and cooking skills with children. PKL has worked with the Children’s Food Trust on a number of projects recently.

“We are very happy to support the Children’s Food Trust with this donation,” said Lee Vines, our sales and marketing director. “Their work, in encouraging more children, schools and parents around the country to have a positive experience with food is very important. We also hope that many schools benefited by being able to buy this ex-hire equipment at heavily discounted prices. School catering managers can now provide more for their students that they wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise.”

With the ex-hire equipment selling so well, Lee was able to present a cheque for a total of £8000 to the Children’s Food Trust at their offices in Sheffield. 

Chief Executive, Judy Hargadon, said, "This donation will help us reach even more children - whether through our research programme, our work to improve food in early years settings and in schools, or our work to help even more children learn to cook."