A-Z of PKL's 2014: Part 2

Here is Part 2 of my A-Z of this year's highlights at PKL. Part 2 covers letters J-Q, and this section of the alphabet includes a number of exciting events that we've taken part in this year. In this section, it's also clear that it's been a hugely eventful year for the education sector in particular, with new legislation and school initiatives having had a significant impact on that side of our business! If you missed it last week, make sure you catch up on Part 1: A-I here.

J is for Jamie’s Kitchen Garden Project. In May, we installed a Food Technology Kitchen at St Paul’s Primary School in London as part of this Jamie Oliver initiative to get children growing their own food and cooking in schools. It was positioned by the school’s vegetable garden and was designed to include cooking equipment as well as tables and chairs for the children to eat at once they had cooked their meals.

K is for KitchenPods, our permanent modular kitchens. In November, local MP Ed Miliband officially opened the brand new KitchenPod at Kirkby Avenue Primary School in Doncaster. This was a spacious new kitchen with brick slip finish to blend in with existing buildings on site.

Food Technology Kitchen installation at St Paul's Primary and KitchenPod at Kirkby Avenue Primary

L is for the LACA Exhibition which we attended in July. This year, we took along a portable kitchen and positioned it outside the main entrance of the venue for delegates to see in the flesh. Many people hadn’t seen inside a temporary kitchen before, and were surprised at the quality and spaciousness of the cooking environment. We always enjoy the LACA shows, and it was great to see so many familiar faces and meet new people too.

M is for PKL's Macmillan coffee morning. In September, we took part in the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. A huge cake sale in our staff canteen raised £175 for the cause. M is also for the Modular and Portable Building Association (MPBA), which PKL joined as a member in September. I also now sit on the committee as a member of the main MPBA Council.

Temporary kitchen at the LACA Exhibition and Macmillan coffee morning

N is for National School Meals Week. As part of National School Meals Week, we installed a pop-up school kitchen outside the House of Commons on Tuesday 4th November. The kitchen was used to serve sample school lunches to MPs, peers and the public to promote school food and show what modern school meals are really like!

O is for The One Show. Back in March, our KitchenPods were featured on The One Show as a potential solution for schools needing kitchen facilities to offer UIFSM from September. We also installed a Food Cube at the BBC studios, to be featured as an example of a solution for schools suffering lunchtime congestion. The Food Cube was then used by Mary Berry to cook pancakes live on the show!

Pop-up school kitchen outside parliament for NSMW and Food Cube on The One Show

P is for Passmores Academy, where we installed a large, walk-through Food Cube. The school, which is the setting for hit TV show Educating Essex, needed to expand its dining facilities to cope with increasing pupil intake. The Food Cube was positioned by an existing outdoor covered seating area, turning it into an additional space where pupils could purchase and eat food. P is also for poetry. When it comes to poetry, we’ve found that no topic is more inspiring than catering equipment. Read our National Poetry Day rhyme, “Dance of the Catering Equipment”.

Q is for queueing. With increasing numbers of 16-18 year olds staying in education and the School Food Plan leading to increased school meal take-up, many school canteens have been experiencing growing congestion this year. Our Food Cubes have continued to be a popular solution for schools across the country, drastically reducing lunch queue times by easing the pressure on the main canteen and offering a quick “grab and go” service.

That's it for Part 2. Stop by the blog again next week for the final installment of the A-Z of PKL's 2014.

Beatrice's Work Experience Diary

The Marketing Team: Sam, Andy and Caz

Work experience student Beatrice joined PKL's Marketing Team this week - here is her diary of what she got up to!

At first, entering the world of work seemed quite scary, I was worried I would be given big complicated tasks and would sit wondering what had gone wrong. However, I feel like I would rather stay at work then go back to school!! Marketing is what I want to do when I am older; I knew that before I came to PKL, now, I am sure there is a place in that area of work for me.

MONDAY:

I met my ‘boss’ Sam who introduced me to a spread sheet with a forecast of everything the Marketing team need to achieve at PKL. It was then I realised that there is a lot more to marketing than I initially thought. It is all soo organised here at PKL and this spread sheet proved it. There are many parts of marketing I learnt about that I never new existed. Later on, after a guided tour of PKL, I helped Sam organise brochure requests on Goldmine, which was interesting because I had never seen a system like that before. After my lunch break, I then helped Andy set up an email newsletter, that I was very proud of; it was sent to 6,272 people!!!

Left - Designing the email newsletter, Right   - The poster about The One Show

TUESDAY:

I worked with Andy on a poster to put in the canteen of one of PKL’s proudest achievements which is going on The One Show! After lunch, Andy took me to the printers where we took the next brochure designs and made sure they were printing properly. It was so interesting to see the process of design to manufacturer, we were even allowed inside the printing factory! After lunch, I helped Andy set up a picture of PKL on The One Show to go into reception. Finally, I helped Sam and sent some emails to people who wanted a brochure.

Our visit to the printing company and a proof of the new brochure

WEDNESDAY:

This particular day helped me see the variety of work at PKL, as I helped Andy sort out a very messy Marketing cupboard. It was a lot of work, however the end result was really good and it helped make room for the next brochures which will be delivered on Friday. Andy, the Graphic Designer, has the job I would have if I worked here as I love design and working on websites. I really envy him!!

The clean new cupboard

THURSDAY:

I had a meeting with the MD Chris who set me a task of helping him research which potential countries PKL Transworld could work with. This took me most of the day, however I was happy to be helpful to PKL as they had already done A LOT for me. Finally, I worked with Caz, who was great fun and showed me how to control the back end of the Mid West Catering Equipment website and sort out the stock on sale at the moment.

Left - Designing a new picture for Reception, Right - The final result on the wall

FRIDAY:

I am now about to set up my blog that I am REALLY excited about doing! This week has been AMAZING and I now feel much happier in myself knowing for definite what I want to do when I am older - MARKETING!!

PKL on The One Show

Eagle-eyed viewers might have spotted my fleeting appearance on The One Show on Monday, talking about PKL KitchenPods as a potential solution for schools requiring new kitchen facilities to help with implementing the School Food Plan and Universal Infant Free School Meals.

The feature looked at the issues some schools will be facing in getting ready for the changes, and touched on several potential solutions. John Vincent from The School Food Plan helped a headteacher explore a number of options to ensure her school could meet the Plan's recommendations. The PKL KitchenPod at Bush Hill Park Primary School in Enfield was featured (thanks to headteacher Sue Crisp) as an example of modular kitchen buildings which provide flexible procurement options - including purchase, rental or lease - which can help schools without funding for an upfront purchase.

The feature also discussed options such as the local authority or private caterers borrowing money to invest in school kitchens, with the knowledge that a good facility will generate a profit, enabling the money to be paid back over time. Bringing the catering in-house was another suggestion put forward in the feature. This option can provide a great solution to schools whose current catering company may no longer represent the highest quality and most cost-effective solution when faced by the increased numbers of children who will be entitled to free school meals from September.


One of our PKL Food Cubes was installed at the BBC studios for the day, for a live piece about how modular servery buildings can provide a solution to queues and congestion in school dining rooms. Mary Berry seemed to enjoy cooking pancakes in the Cube, describing it as "splendid" when interviewed by presenters Matt and Alex. Sadly we're not able to include a free Mary Berry with every Food Cube, but we do supply a variety of features and equipment,which we hope makes up for it!

I had a fantastic afternoon down at The One Show studios, watching rehearsals and pre-recordings. The studio is much smaller than I'd expected, but is run with such efficiency that a larger space really isn't necessary! I was also surprised to find that the outside filming area where our Food Cube was located is very open to the public, with people passing on the street able to watch from only a few metres away.

During a break in rehearsals, I had a chat with presenter Matt Baker, who was particularly interested in the issue as his own children don't currently have a hot meal option at school.

It was also nice to catch up with John Vincent from the School Food Plan and hear about the filming he'd done for the feature. I'm a member of the School Food Plan's Small Schools Taskforce, so we had plenty to talk about!

The show will be available to watch on BBC iPlayer until 10th March 2014, so watch it here asap if you missed it. The school meals feature starts 16 minutes in and lasts for about 10 minutes.

For more information on PKL school solutions, visit our dedicated schools website at www.schoolkitchens.com.