Top Safety Accreditation for PKL Group (UK) Ltd.

PKL Group is one of the latest group of successful companies to join a leading edge scheme, designed to help industry improve its safety record. 

 

The Cheltenham-based firm recently received accreditation from SAFEcontractor, a programme which recognises very high standards of health and safety practice amongst UK contractors. 

Employing around 100 people in the UK PKL is principally involved in the supply of temporary Portable Kitchens and Catering Equipment for hire

SAFEcontractor is applicable to most sectors although it is particularly relevant to food manufacture, property, facilities management, retail and leisure sectors, all of which are big users of contract services. 

Darran Hughes; Operations Director of SAFEcontractor said, "Major organisations can no longer run the risk of employing contractors who are not able to prove that they have sound health and safety policies".

"More companies need to understand the importance of adopting good risk management in the way that PKL has done. The firms’ high standard has set an example, which hopefully will be followed by other companies within the sector".

Under the SAFEcontractor system, businesses undergo a vetting process, which examines health and safety procedures and their track record for safe practice.

Those companies meeting the high standard are included on a database, which is accessible to registered users only via a website, www.safecontractor.com.

Employer-organisations who sign up to the scheme can access the database, which enables them to vet potential contractors before they even set foot on site. These employers agree that, as users of the scheme, they will engage only those who have received accreditation. 

Over one hundred and twenty major nation-wide businesses, from several key sectors, have signed up to use the scheme when selecting contractors for services such as building, cleaning, maintenance, refurbishment or electrical and mechanical work.

Rapid Response Portable Kitchens and Catering Equipment Used to Feed Army Troops

PKL supplied the MOD with commercial catering facilities, capable of supplying up to 35,000 military personnel in the Middle East.

The project was in response to an urgent kitchen enquiry and design and brief costs were supplied to the client within a matter of hours, while the first portable kitchen units were dispatched from the UK within 72 hours.

The facility comprised of seven military kitchens capable of feeding 5,000 men each. The complex was made up from Portable Kitchen units and commercial catering equipment and utilised PKL’s unique containerised canopy. This approach enabled the equipment and associated items to be mobilised ready for shipping very quickly.

The Portable Kitchens were transported by heavy-lift Antonov transport planes and installation of the first facility commenced within 12 hours of arrival.

This project best demonstrates PKL's unique rapid response capabilities previously exercised in Bosnia and Kosovo.

Within the UK we deal with emergency enquiries on a daily basis, and are able to supply Portable Kitchens and catering equipment for hire at very short notice. Typical emergencies we are asked to provide temporary catering facilities to cover include kitchen fires, kitchen flooding and unforeseen kitchen closure.

Temporary Kitchens at the All African Games

The All African Games is the largest athletics sporting event on the continent. Over 2,000 athletes from 53 African countries attended the 2 week event in October 2003 and all wanted to take advantage of the world class event catering facilities.

We supplied nearly 500 items of event catering equipment from our stock of over 8,000, including hot and cold servery counters, beverage boilers, catering sinks, wash hand basins and sundry servery items.

With so many athletes to feed in such a short time period, the organising committee needed to be sure that the foodservice equipment was able to cope and met the most rigorous of food hygiene standards. PKL was first choice.

We project managed the entire delivery and installation procedure and had trained engineers on site at all times to service the equipment during the operating period.

PKL has long been associated with the world's major sporting events and have provided Portable Kitchens and first class event catering facilities to the World Student Games, Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games - but the All African Games was a first.