Constructing a Large Scale Modular Kitchen

Here’s a sneak preview of a large scale, open plan, temporary kitchen facility which is going out on hire this week. This particular facility comprises 35 units and was constructed here at PKL HQ before being disassembled into individual units, covered ready for transport and loaded onto trucks, ready to be installed on the client’s site. The facility is currently being reassembled at the client’s location, ready for final commissioning and handover.

A facility of this size really illustrates the benefits of off-site construction. The main build of the facility took place here at PKL HQ, including all the mechanical and electrical fit-outs as well as the installation of extraction canopies and catering equipment. Due to the size of the facility, it’s taken several weeks to build, but because all this work has been undertaken at PKL, there has been no disruption to the client. The rebuilding of the facility at the client’s site is now quite straightforward, and should only take a few days craning the units into position, ready for the internal reassembly. 

With a footprint of over 500m² this is a substantial facility, and will be on hire for 6 months during a major kitchen refurbishment. Three plant rooms are located on the roof, above the Central Island Canopies. These rooms house the extraction fans and the boiler for the tempered air, and also ensure that there are no roof leaks where the extraction penetrates the ceiling.

This type of large scale facility is typically specified for use during major refurbishment works at busy sites such as prisons, hospitals and universities, which have large catering operations which need to be maintained.

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!

Cheltenham Festival 2015 - Day 4

After a brilliant day on Wednesday, CowCow rather let himself down yesterday, only achieving a single fourth place out of all his predictions! Today is the final day of race week though, so we've given him a pep talk and he's looking lively.

Despite it being very overcast here in Cheltenham today, CowCow was keen to dress up and has put on his new sunglasses. If any of his predictions are wrong today, you'll know it's because he simply can't see what he's doing! But at least he looks cool, eh?

So, without further ado, here are today's predictions.

CowCow's Cheltenham Festival Predictions - 13th March 2015

Race 1 (1:30pm) - Petite Parisienne

Race 2 (2:05pm) - Waxies Dargle

Race 3 (2:40pm) - Out Sam

Race 4 (3:20pm) - Holywell

Race 5 (4:00pm) - No Loose Change

Race 6 (4:40pm) - Macnicholson

Race 7 (5:15pm) - Turban

Cheltenham Festival 2015 - Day 3

Well, CowCow was on fire yesterday! Not literally, luckily, but we wouldn't put it past him... Two of yesterday's mystical predictions won their races, and a further three came third in their races. A very impressive result for a psychic cow thrown at a paper spinner, we're sure you'll agree!

Today, CowCow is celebrating his success by dressing up in his "very clever cow" glasses, to make sure people take him seriously. We're not sure it's working. We now also have a colleague somewhere in the office who is unable to see properly...

Anyway, the spinner has been spun, the cow has been launched, and we have a new set of predictions for you, ready for today's racing.

Here are CowCow's chosen horses for today.

CowCow's Cheltenham Festival Predictions - 12th March 2015

Race 1 (1:30pm) - Splash of Ginge

Race 2 (2:05pm) - Henryville

Race 3 (2:40pm) - Taquin Du Seuil

Race 4 (3:20pm) - Lieutenant Colonel

Race 5 (4:00pm) - Edgardo Sol

Race 6 (4:40pm) - Gold Bullet
Race 7 (5:15pm) - Hurricane Ridge

Cheltenham Festival 2015 - Day 2

This week is race week here in Cheltenham, so our mystical moo-cow is on the case, making bold predictions and causing havoc in the office as he launches himself at his special psychic spinner, scattering stationery all over the place and generally making a mess.

CowCow got off to a great start and successfully predicted one winner yesterday. He's particularly looking forward to Ladies' Day today (we're sure we heard him muttering about "beautiful bovines" earlier...), and is hoping to improve on yesterday's predictions.

So, here are his tips for today!

CowCow's Cheltenham Festival Predictions - 11th March 2015

Race 1 (1:30pm) - Windsor Park

Race 2 (2:05pm) - Wounded Warrior

Race 3 (2:40pm) - Goodwood Mirage

Race 4 (3:20pm) - Dodging Bullets

Race 5 (4:00pm) - Uncle Junior

Race 6 (4:40pm) - Verawal

Race 7 (5:15pm) -  Wait For Me

Cheltenham Festival 2015 - Day 1

With our offices located just two miles up the road from Cheltenham Racecourse, the Cheltenham Festival is very hard for us to avoid (as are the merry, tweed-clad racegoers who like to wander about in the middle of the road as we're driving home from work!). Traffic everywhere, an abundance of fascinators and tweed, the sight of normally sensible people drinking Guinness for breakfast... There's nothing quite like the buzz of race week, and we love it really. Maybe.

For the last couple of years our psychic office bovine, CowCow, has made race predictions throughout the Festival, with varying degrees of success. Last year was particularly good, with a number of winners correctly predicted by our inexplicably mustachioed friend! This year, CowCow is back with his trusty spinner board and he's feeling confident.

In case you're new to CowCow's mystic antics, here's how it works. CowCow has a special spinner for each race, featuring equal-sized segments representing the number of horses due to run. A long-suffering human staff member then sets the spinner spinning and CowCow launches himself upon it, stopping the spinner in its tracks. The number of each segment corresponds to a horse in the race, and the one the spinner lands on is CowCow's prediction. Simple yet inspired, we're sure you'll agree.

So, on with the show! Here are today's race predictions!

CowCow's Cheltenham Festival Predictions - 10th March 2015

Race 1 (1:30pm) - Shaneshill

Race 2 (2:05pm) - Sail By The Sea

Race 3 (2:40pm) - Azure Fly

Race 4 (3:20pm) - Faugheen

Race 5 (4:00pm) - Caroles Spirit

Race 6 (4:40pm) - Thunder And Roses

Race 7 (5:15pm) -  Gores Island

New Event Kitchens Website!

We’re excited to introduce you to our brand new event kitchens website:

DontForgetTheKitchen.com

For too long, event kitchens have been forgotten about. They may not be the most exciting element to organise, but leaving your kitchen arrangements until the last minute is a terrible idea – you risk items not being available, higher prices, and lots of unnecessary stress!

Our new website is designed to make planning and booking your event kitchen and catering equipment hire a much easier and more enjoyable process, and to hopefully encourage you to not leave it until the last minute!

Dontforgetthekitchen.com features our fantastic new online estimate system, which allows you to add kitchen units and catering equipment to a basket, customise your hire with additional services, and get an instant online estimate. The website also enables you to request a quote for crockery, cutlery and glassware from our friends over at Well Dressed Tables, who we’ve teamed up with to offer a more comprehensive solution to our event customers.

We supply events of any size, so whether you need a few items of catering equipment or a huge temporary kitchen facility, we can help.

The other big news in the events sector at the moment is the introduction of the new CDM Regulations in April this year, which will result in a higher level of safety standards for the events industry. We’re experts in event kitchen health and safety, and we’ve already been supplying CDM compliant products and services for the last five years! The new website has a whole section dedicated to event health and safety, so you can read up on all our different accreditations and find out how the new CDM Regulations will affect your event.

Pop over to dontforgetthekitchen.com now to see our full range of kitchens, equipment and services, get an instant estimate, read some weird and wonderful case studies, and find out more about event health and safety.

But whatever you do… Don’t forget the kitchen!